The Mount Ebott Dare
by Octoya
Summary: Essentially writing doodles that I do of Undertale, most of it with a Pacifist or Neutral Frisk. Some take place during the events of the game, some after, some before, and some might have an AU attached to them which I'm too lazy to explore in a larger fanfiction. (I'm sure you already know this deal from countless other fanfic authors.) Updates will be sporadic.
1. And Many More

**Title:** And Many More

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Sans, Frisk, Monster Kid, Papyrus (kinda)

 **Word Count:** 452

* * *

"Sans!"

"Sans!"

"Sans!"

"Sans!"

"Hey Sans!"

"Sans!"

"Saaans!"

"SANS!"

"Saaaaaannnns!"

"Sansy Pansy!"

"zzzzzzz"

"Sans!"

"Sans!"

"Sans wake up!"

"Sans!"

"zzzzz*snirt* zzzzzzz"

"SANS!"

"Sans!"

"zzzzzz-" He peeked at them with one eye and then the next thing he knew, a wadded piece of paper hit his face and fell into his lap. "?" Startled, he was forced to open his eyes the whole way and he peered over the side.

"Sans!"

"Sans!"

From below, Frisk and Leo jumped up and down at odd intervals, Frisk with a huge stack of papers clutched in her arms. Leo didn't have anything in his arms because he didn't have arms.

Now that Sans had opened his eyes, Leo shouted up a final time, "Yo Sans!"

"'sup?" He unfolded the piece of paper in his lap. "what's this?"

"Frisk is turning eight next week! We're going around inviting everybody to their party on Saturday, you're gonna come right!?" While he spoke, Frisk nodded enthusiastically, a big smile on her face.

Sans yawned. "eight, huh? how old are you now?"

"I'm seven!" Frisk shouted, jumping up. The stack of invitations slipped out of her grasp and she shrieked, scrambling to pick them all up before the wind carried them off.

Sans chuckled, arresting the papers where they lay with a light blue glow. "so you're turning seven?"

"NO I'm turning eight!"

Leo picked up an invitation in his mouth. "You're coming to the party right?"

"well i'll have to check my work schedule," Sans said with a lazy wink in their direction. "might be too busy. i might just go to it next time."

From down below Frisk had finished gathering up the invites, but now she looked up with a forced frown on her face. "But there's not gonna BE a next time!" Leo yelped, stomping up and down. "They're only turning eight once, you meanie!"

"only turning eight once, huh?"

"Yeah!" Frisk chimed in, jumping again. "You have to come to THIS one!"

"'s that so?" Sans yawned. "i'll think about it, then, kid."

"Also Tori says you have to stop sleeping on your roof because you'll fall and break your neck!"

"nah."

Frisk dashed off, steadying Leo as he tripped. "Okay! Let's go find Papyrus!"

From somewhere down below, Sans could hear Papyrus enthusiastically accepting the invitation he was smoothing out against the roof.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** For future reference, "Leo" is the headcanon name I've put to the Monster Kid, since I think Frisk would have asked their name at some point.


	2. If She Hadn't Said Anything (What If)

**Title** : If She Hadn't Said Anything

 **Rating** : K

 **Feat** : Toriel, Frisk, Sans

 **Word Count:** 2,030

* * *

It was a cold and snowy day, one that was generated with magic but probably felt no less real than the snowy days that humans had on the surface. There was just no snow falling. Everything was on the ground already. It made every step muffled, and kept the forest quiet... It was peaceful. Or tense. Depending on the preferences of the person walking through it.

Just like he usually did, Sans trudged through the snow until he reached that door at the end of Snowdin, where the Ruins began. But this time, something was very wrong.

The door was destroyed. In its place was a huge pile of rubble, boulders and broken pillars that no one could possibly lift.

The skeleton twitched and picked up the pace until reaching it. "oh crap-"

He started to rap on the boulders and on the pillars, and then on the doorframe, his frozen grin looking a little more like a grimace. The kind of damage inflicted on this door could only be done by someone with a lot of power. It couldn't be some freak cave-in or force of nature – someone had to have wanted to destroy it. "craaap crap."

He gave up on just knocking. "everyone, uh, okay in there?" He called out.

There was no reply, at first, and he let out a shaky breath while waiting. He called louder, "uhh. hello? lady? you alright?" She was always – always here around this time of day. It was her routine. If she wasn't here, then that meant...

Finally, though, he heard her reply. It was a little bit fainter, but not weak by any means. "Oh my! You're here early..."

Sans wiped a few beads of sweat and sighed, "it's the same time i always come around."

"Oh my, I – yes, of course. I'm sorry, there have just been – some unexpected developments... today."

"i, uh, see that."

"The door... I... It was... I am sorry. I did not mean to worry you."

"no... problem, heh. everything okay?"

"Yes, yes. Everything is fine now. Actually, I have - I have some good news."

"heh?" Good news, when the only door to the Ruins was demolished like this? She was trapped. He hadn't thought that would be a good thing. _weird lady..._

But as opposed to the last time they talked, she did sound in better spirits. "I have someone else whom I would like you to meet, my friend," she said from the other side of the ruined door.

Sans didn't know what to say. It was known that a couple monsters lived in the Ruins, (ones that weren't able to handle the cold of Snowdin,) but few of them spoke English and she'd never mentioned one being friends with her before. "yeah?"

"I... met them recently, when I was walking about on my rounds." Quietly, as though speaking to someone else, the woman then said, "It's alright, my child."

There was silence from behind the rubble. "?" Sans tilted his head, warming his hands in his pockets, and kept listening. _she has a kid? is it hers? is it someone else's?_ This was odd, but it beat sitting at his station and waiting for humans that would never pass by.

He heard her voice come in once, reassuringly speaking to him, "They're just a little shy..."

"no prob'. i got nowhere to go," he replied with a shrug.

Finally, he heard a very small and soft voice speaking from behind the rubble. "Knock knock..."

Grinning wider, he said, "who's there?"

"...Avenue."

"avenue who?"

The little voice stammered out, "Avenue knocked on this door before?"

He laughed, just a little. He'd heard that one before; the lady told him that one about a month ago. But the kid was trying, at any rate. "heh, good one. although, it's not really a _door_ i'm knocking on now."

"... ..." A long and painful silence ensued, where Sans hoped he hadn't just made a child cry.

"Oh! My dear, it is alright," the woman laughed. "Perhaps I'll handle the jokes until you get the hang of it."

"yeah you'll pick it up quick, _knock_ on wood."

From the other side, he thought he heard the smallest giggle.

* * *

After that, things went pretty much back to normal. They told jokes, traded puns, and he even told some stories. The only difference was that he could hear the kid laughing along with the woman, sometimes, although they didn't venture another joke. It was fun. Even if the three of them didn't actually discuss the new things that happened at all. The door being destroyed, the sudden kid. They all just stuck to jokes, and that was a-OK.

Sans wouldn't question it, not if the lady didn't want him to.

A day passed like this.

Then another. And then another. And even more days passed, until the kid became a normal part of the talks between Sans and the lady, part of the routine. When he knocked on the door frame, he would listen for their smaller voice just as much as he was listening for the woman's.

Now, sometimes, the kid wouldn't be with her when she talked to him. On those occasions she told Sans that they were off playing in the Ruins, eating a late lunch, drawing, or taking a nap, all things that young children would typically do. And sometimes that was fine, because not every joke that he had in his arsenal was entirely kid friendly.

Sometimes, though, the child was with her and that was just fine too. Eventually, they began to take a crack at the joking for themselves. Began to venture puns when they saw the opportunity, or experiment with bar jokes.

How a little kid in the Ruins knew so many bar jokes, Sans had no idea. But some of them were pretty clever. They weren't a bad kid; he could tell in the lady's laughter how proud she was whenever they spoke up.

One day, when he came to knock on the door frame, it wasn't the lady who answered at all. "Who's there?"

"oh, hey! uh, who's there?"

The little voice replied, "Ya."

"ya who?"

"Wow... you sure are excited to see me!"

"oh my god," he snorted and knocked twice, himself. "knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"scold."

"Scold who?"

"'scold enough out here to go ice skating!"

He expected more laughter from the kid, but instead he got something else. "I know."

"uh." He looked back, and then towards the entrance to the Ruins. "hey kid, where's the lady?"

A long time passed before the child on the other side replied, "I told her I wanted to talk to you alone today."

Sans had a feeling this was not going to be a sentry shift filled with jokes. It was a similar feeling he got to when he saw that the door had been destroyed, weeks ago at this point. "why's that, kiddo?"

Again, a long silence. "You seem so nice." More silence, and then, "When I first heard _your_ voice on the other side of the door, I got scared. But you've been so nice to me."

"...yyyeaaah...?"

The child kept talking, "I started to think... that maybe there's hope after all. If you can be this nice when you don't know me, maybe you can be this nice when you do know me too..."

A bead of sweat went down his skull. "what are you talking about, kid? this a new joke?"

From the other side, the child took a deep breath. "She didn't tell you what I am. But I know what you are, Mr. Skeleton."

Sans went still. It was like a cold spike was wedged into his spine. "eh-?"

"I saw you before, although it wasn't here in this time. It plays... out a certain way, in every other time except this one. I walk through this door, out of the Ruins. Before she destroys it, I mean. I walk through the woods. You follow me through the woods. And then you-" the child took another breath, "Sometimes before I even know you're there, you kill me."

"...kid, you're, uh, not making sense."

"I don't know why... I guess it's just your job or something..." The child's voice was starting to crack. "Because I'm a human. Th-that's your job, to stop humans, right?"

The lady in the Ruins had adopted a human. Suddenly, everything made sense. The child that appeared out of nowhere, who wasn't like the other monsters living there, and the reason why the lady had destroyed the door. Sans went completely stiff. "yeah. that's. that's my job."

"You're really good at your job."

Silence. The wind was blowing hard from somewhere behind.

"So many times... so many times... I exit that door and try to get past you. But I just, I just can't. It's impossible," their cracking voice fell to a whisper. Sans was forced to move closer to hear them. "I have to reset. Every time, I have to reset. I don't want to have to reset any more. So I decided I would just give up. I thought I would live with her. She's been so nice to me too, I thought if I had to, I could be – I could be happy. _If I had to_."

Sans didn't say anything. Reset, huh?

"But I was wrong. I can't be happy, no matter how nice you both are. No matter how hard I try, I... I want to go home. I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home..." The child's voice rose into a loud whimper. "I don't wanna hurt anybody. Please, Mr. Skeleton... please, please let me go home. Please let me past you."

"...i-if you wanna go home... i'm not gonna stop you, kid-"

"No, no." They spoke again with a gradual rise. "It's already too late. She destroyed the door. I have to reset. I have to reset and, and face you again. So please," they took in a gasp of air, and this time they were louder than ever. "Please! Tell me how to get past you! What do I do? Please, please help me. What do I do? What do I do?"

This time the silence was on his end. In the wind that was starting to pick up, Sans' shoulders relaxed and he sighed. "i'm sorry for giving you such a bad time, kid. but i don't know if there's anything you can _do_ about the other mes."

"..."

"...but, uh, i know that nothing lightens the mood more than a joke. let me tell you a real good one, okay?"

"...okay."

"now, uh," he patted the door frame with one hand. "bear in mind, i only heard this one a few days ago. so when you tell the other me this, he'll think it's pretty funny."

The child's breath hitched audibly. "...O-okay-!"

Sans let out another sigh as he spoke. _geeze. better be doing the right thing._ "okay, ready?

"knock-knock."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Based on an AU idea where Toriel was too afraid of Sans' reaction to make him promise to protect the human, with everything else about the same.

I don't personally know if Sans was actually implying he'd have killed you if he hadn't made that promise when he said "you'd be dead where you stand," as opposed to implying something else would have killed you, but most people assume the former so that's what I went with. ooo Now, there's multiple other ways I imagine it could have gone. This is just the one I wanted to write out.


	3. That Quiche Was Delicious

**Title** : That Quiche Was Delicious

 **Rating** : K

 **Feat** : Frisk, Monster Kid, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel

 **Word Count:** 2,491

* * *

When Toriel got frantic, everyone knew about it. It wasn't just because the monsters living in the city of New New Home were a pretty close-knit community, with only one large neighborhood where everyone could stay near their friends from back underground. That wasn't it.

It was because she was calling everybody.

Asking them if they had seen Frisk or, more importantly, if they could see Frisk right at this moment.

And the more people said that they had seen Frisk but didn't know where they were now, the more frantic she got. The more frantic she got, the more people she called.

She would have only called one or two people if a _certain somebody_ could be bothered to charge his phone battery. But as it was, eventually she reached somebody else who was much more enthusiastic.

"WHADDAYA MEAN FRISK IS MISSING?"

Undyne's shouting woke up a couple of monsters who had dozed off nearby, and they quickly scuttled away. "HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN GONE? WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE THEM!?"

Toriel's voice was strained on the other line, which made her consider lowering her own out of regret. "They left with Leo to talk to Asgore, and they never came back. I called Asgore, and he hasn't seen either of them since they left…"

"Shit! I mean–shoot! And they haven't been answering their phone?"

Toriel sighed, "No…"

"SHIT!" Undyne's yells were starting to attract more attention. She was a noisy person, usually, but the expletives were saved for when something bad had happened.

The monsters that heard her all had the sense to mind their own business, and not become the target of more yelling. There was one that didn't have this fear, however, and she came to the doorway with a startled expression. "Undyne, what's wrong?"

Undyne looked over at Alphys and sighed. "Ugh... it's Frisk!"

"Who are you talking to?" Toriel asked on the other line.

"Just Alphys, ma'am." Undyne said. Covering the phone with one hand, she whispered, "The kid is missing."

The smaller monster put her hands over her mouth. "Oh my gosh!"

But coming to a realization, Toriel spoke louder over the phone, "Alphys! Please, my friend, you must help me as well!"

Inching closer to the phone in Undyne's hand, Alphys quavered, "U-um, me specifically?"

Next to her, Undyne snapped her fingers, "Hey, right! You have surveillance systems all over New New Home!"

"Yes!" On the other end of the line, Toriel's fretting was giving way to eager enthusiasm. "Oh, you will help Undyne look, will you not?"

Undyne was looking at her, and over the phone she was sure that Toriel was alsoeagerly waiting for her answer. Alphys gulped and nodded, "Y-yeah! U-uh, if Frisk is anywhere in New New Home, I-I'll find them on the security cameras."

* * *

Ultimately, however, it would be pointless. The child wasn't in New New Home anymore.

Leo couldn't hold the corn dog in hands that he didn't have, so Frisk was the one who held it out to him. She giggled as he bit a big piece out of it, feeling the food jerk in her hand. She tilted her head, smiling at him expectantly.

And at her smile he grinned back. "I like it! It feels really funny when it goes down, though!"

"Monster food doesn't do that huh?" She took a bite of her own corn dog, speaking quietly. "It was something that made me nervous when I was underground. Like, how can you even tell when you've eaten too much?"

Leo puffed out his chest. "I don't think you can _ever_ eat too much monster food!"

Frisk giggled again.

Although her laugh was cut short when Leo let out a burp and the whole piece of corn dog came right back up, as if being ejected from a plane. Powered by some part of the boy's body that went _No way in hell_ , it flew in a tiny arc and then landed in the rain puddle. One that had formed that morning and soaked Frisk's shoes just a few minutes ago.

Blinking, Leo looked at the ground and then back to her, apologetically murmuring, "I guess it didn't want to stay down…"

After a moment Frisk shrugged, biting into both the corn dogs herself, and winked at the monster child.

Leo laughed, "More for you, eh? I'll get some snacks from my mom when I get home."

As they both laughed and nodded, the pair decided it was time to move on. Frisk went forward down the sidewalk of the human city, oblivious to anyone who stopped to stare at her and her companion. She had no worries. She was holding two corn dogs in hand which she devoured with relish.

Not actual relish. She hated pickles of any kind.

And, anyway, the humans were getting used to excursions from monsters into their city by now. It was just more odd to see two children alone like this, with one being a monster on top of that. Twice they'd been stopped by someone asking if their parents were around.

Leo had panicked the first time. His parents absolutely could not, could not, know that he was walking around in the human city unsupervised. But Frisk just said that they were the next block over, in the apartment building down the street, and the adults would be satisfied enough to return to their own lives.

Then they went up to the apartment building and Frisk would knock, hoping that what she said was true.

They did this for many houses.

Sometimes an old person would answer, and Frisk walked away immediately, Leo scrambling after her. Sometimes a woman would answer, and Frisk studied her face hard before Leo would, inevitably, apologize and make up an excuse. Sometimes a man would answer, and the child would stare even harder before Leo stammered if he'd like to "buy a Bible" or "cookies" or the other things humans sold at doors.

When those doors inevitably closed, Frisk would sigh and keep moving.

She didn't say anything to them. There was nothing to say to them.

But every time the door opened, her face became tense as she concentrated. After their snack break with the corn dogs, it was a little less so.

She just tossed the sticks away carelessly next to a trash can, rolled up her sleeves, and then knocked on the door. A big blonde woman with a baby on her shoulder opened it up a few minutes later. Confusion and a little bit of shock filled her eyes, with the armless monster and the small child looking up at her. "Hello?"

Frisk bowed her head with just one look at her and went marching on. "Wait, aren'tcha gonna-?" Leo stood there nervously for a moment while the lady blinked. "Sorry! Wrong address!" He scurried after Frisk, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Looking back as the monster caught up to her, Frisk sighed. She wasn't walking as quickly as before, looking tired as the sun dipped behind a skyscraper ahead of them. Leo nudged her with his head, "What's up? Are we almost done, do you think?"

The child sighed again and shrugged. Maybe it was time to call it a day.

Hardly had she thought that, she heard Leo give a yelp beside her. He was turned around, at least partially, clearly startled by something. Frisk looked behind herself as well, and she muffled a yelp too by placing both hands over her mouth.

Undyne looked mad.

* * *

They both screamed and ran down the street, which could have caused trouble for Undyne with the police if there had been more people walking around by this time of day. She gave them an earful about that, first and foremost, when she ran and caught them both by the backs of their shirts.

Although she had seen her angry lots of times, this was a different kind of lecture, she thought.

So powerful had been her presence, she didn't notice Alphys running along behind her until after Undyne was full into her tangent. She was smiling apologetically, nervously, unsure if there was anything at all she could contribute to the scolding of two children.

"–AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS IT COULD HAVE BEEN FOR YOU TOO?! I MEAN FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU'RE TWO LITTLE KIDS IN A GIANT CITY ALL ALONE!" Undyne had to set them down eventually so that she could make gestures with her occupied hands. That was how angry she was. Her red hair, which she hadn't had time to sweep back into one dignified ponytail, kept swiping over her face. "WHAT WERE YOU TWO THINKING!?"

Not expecting his friend to, Leo took a breath to answer, but Undyne growled and he stopped. It was a rhetorical question.

"AND NOT TO MENTION HOW WORRIED YOU MADE TORIEL BY ALL THIS!" At that, Frisk sat up straighter. "SHE'S GOT ALL THE GUYS WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE BECAUSE SHE WAS CALLING EVERYBODY TO LOOK FOR YOU! YOU'RE GONNA MAKE HER SICK!"

She took a deep breath, finishing it off with her hands on her hips. "SERIOUSLY, _WHAT_ WERE YOU THINKING?"

This one wasn't rhetorical. Frisk stood up, helping to pull Leo to his feet as well. "Toriel was upset?" She said, her voice almost too soft to hear.

"Y-yeah." This time, it was Alphys who answered, Undyne just looking at the children with the most incredulous expression on her face. "She didn't know where you were, y-you know?"

Frisk and Leo exchanged looks. Leo was already grimacing, "Oh man, my parents must be worried about me too."

But even to that, the girl had a bemused look on her face. "She was worried about me?"

"No duh!" Undyne snapped. "You're like her kid! Of _fricking_ _course_ she's going to be worried about you! What were you guys even _doing_ out here?"

But the child didn't reply. She looked at Alphys, at Undyne, and then down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

That didn't seem to be enough. No one was talking to her now, and even Undyne's fierce expression was easing up bit by bit. So Frisk raised her head again and forced herself to say more, "I just didn't tell her, cause... I didn't want to hurt her feelings."

"You got messed up priorities, kid!" Undyne snapped.

But Alphys remained calm–or, at least, calmer than Undyne. She was still sweating and wringing her hands at all the shouting. "What do you mean?"

Leo kept grimacing; he was probably thinking about his own parents. So she murmured instead, "I was looking for my..." the word stuck just as it reached her tongue. "I was... I just was looking for my mom and dad."

"Your what?" Anger or nervousness, both expressions dropped from Undyne and Alphys' faces and were replaced by shock.

It was at that point that Leo recovered his nerve. "Oh, yeah! We've been checking houses all day, but I don't think we've found them..." Frisk was looking at him. "...Yet...?"

"I was raised here," Frisk said, gesturing to the city around them. "So I figured that, um... they might still be here somewhere."

They were both just staring at her. She refused to cringe under their gaze, just blinking at one face and then another.

Undyne coughed, cleared her throat, and looked a bit red around her gills and face. "Wow, uh? I actually didn't? Think you had parents? Sorry if that's rude or something!"

"Yeah oh my god," Alphys seconded, putting her hands over her mouth. "What happened to them?"

The child didn't say anything. Alphys turned an even redder shade than Undyne and whimpered, "I'm so sorry, that's such a rude q-question!"

"It's okay." Frisk shook her head, giving Alphys a patient smile that fell too fast. Faced with their continuing stares, she started to feel self-conscious. Eventually, she took a breath and only said, "... I don't want to leave Toriel, or anything like that. I love it there. But..." She looked at her toes, turning them inward. "I don't wanna stop looking."

That was all she was going to say, it seemed. "Well-!" Undyne and Alphys exchanged glances, and both of them cringed. " _Wow!_ I wasn't really prepared to handle that?" The former captain of the guard slapped a hand over her face, grimacing, before straightening up with a more serious expression. "But, listen to me! Frisk! And you too, kid!"

The children stood at attention. "...You have to be considerate of the parents you have _right now_ ," she said, suddenly sounding like a real captain. "I'm not gonna say you can't look, but you have to tell Toriel!"

"But-"

Undyne suddenly smiled, "I promise, she'll understand! She's really good with things like this. That's why you're staying with her, isn't it?"

Frisk smiled back in spite of herself, "Yeeaahh..."

The fish monster's tone got harsh again. "So let's get back home, _now_!" Undyne took her phone out of her jacket, shoving it in the children's direction. "Call your folks right away and APOLOGIZE for making them worry!"

"Yes ma'am," they both said wearily.

"I want to see you guys march!"

"Yes ma'am…"

"YOU'RE NOT MARCHING HARD ENOUGH!"

"Yes ma'am!"

As they hung out at the back, Alphys was able to lean over and whisper to Undyne, "What do you think happened to her parents?"

"What do you think happened?" Undyne grumbled. "...Some human didn't understand what they were leaving behind. So typical."

She suddenly understood, as obvious as it looked now. Frisk and Leo were both marching side by side in perfect form- save for Frisk holding a phone to Leo's head- both taking their verbal punishments in stride. Acting as if this was all ordinary.

But then, that was in fact ordinary for Frisk. Alphys adjusted her glasses thoughtfully. "M-maybe they weren't ready for the responsibility."

"Well, it's a good thing _somebody_ was," she got in reply.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Out of everything else, I feel bad that FF won't support multiple punctuation marks at once. Makes it harder to emulate some of Undyne's speech from the game.

0 0 I do kind of want to continue the last chapter's story, but I haven't made any part 2's yet at this time.


	4. It's Raining Here

**Title** : It's Raining Here

 **Rating** : K

 **Feat** : Frisk, Toriel, Monster Kid

 **Word Count** : 994

* * *

They were supposed to go out and play in the park that day, with the intention of meeting up with Leo and the other children. It was likely that they'd be hanging around there, as New New Home was still being built and there weren't a lot of places for entertainment yet. And most monsters only ventured out to explore the human city when they got really, really bored or if Frisk herself was nearby.

Only hangout or not, Frisk liked going to the park and meeting them there. In particular, she liked when they would all hang around the colorful flowers and trees and string popcorn and beads up on the branches; usually Frisk was the one bringing the popcorn and string. Whenever they decorated the tree, the next day someone would have put a present under it and it was a race of kids to get to it first in the early morning. The gift was often something useless, like trash that someone didn't want to throw away, extra salt, or a porcelain hippo, but sometimes it was a box of cookies or an old board game that they could enjoy for an afternoon.

She was really building fond memories of the park.

But since it was raining, there wouldn't be any of that after all. She had to stay cooped up inside.

At first Frisk sulked for the whole morning, staring out the window at the trickling raindrops. She would repeatedly ask Toriel by the question in her eyes if she could go outside, and Toriel each time patted her on the head and told that she could not, for it was too wet out. Eventually, the child sullenly sat in front of the window with a bowl of popcorn and watched the rain fall down.

The drops were hitting so heavily that they slid down the window like someone dying in a movie, dragging their fingers all the way down.

On the day that she went out of the Underground it had been raining, she remembered. She could almost hear it, the closer she got to the exit, it was so loud. It had cleared up by the time she entered Asgore's castle, only to start again when she was making her way down the mountain, the clouds coming when the sun disappeared.

It was such a depressing sight that when the barrier was destroyed the next time around, she had been anxious when they all finally left and watched the sunset together, knowing it was going to start pouring. What kind of sight was rain for their first excursion above ground?

Well... Frisk buried her face in the popcorn and ate the kernels nearest to her face. Some of them liked all the water.

She, at the time, had hated it. It drowned out everything and soaked her to the bone; without an umbrella all she could do was cower under a ledge and wait for it all to stop. Amazingly, her phone had survived being soaked. Given that monsters living in Waterfall also had such electronics it wasn't too surprising, but still the child hadn't expected that.

But in compensation, she hadn't answered it when she heard it ringing in her pocket.

Now the solitary, stormy days like these reminded her of that moment. When she heard the ringing and her stomach seized up and she didn't answer. She just waited until the ringing stopped and watched the rain fall in front of her eyes, her whole body freezing.

Days like these, she was sure that some people were having fun. But...

For the first time in her life, on a rainy night on Mt. Ebott, she felt lonely. Listening to the phone ring. Listening to the voice message on the other side, when the rain finally subsided. Feeling the misery of failure.

She was pretty lonely now, come to think of it, even though she could hear Toriel making lunch in the kitchen.

Frisk sighed and popped more of the popcorn into her mouth, wondering if the rain would subside today. A melody was playing through her head to the tapping of the drops, and the child sat up straighter. She stood, intending to for only a moment, and went to the living-room desk, pulling out a stack of pencils and a piece of notepaper. Humming to herself, she went back to the window and started to draw and write, dutifully, to the sad music.

The phone next to her started ringing and she jumped, staring as though there was a demon in it.

"Oh? Is someone calling you?" From behind Toriel peeked out of the kitchen, an apron tied across her waist. "Who is it, my child?"

Monster phones didn't have Caller ID. Frisk reluctantly picked the phone up and answered.

"Yooo!"

In spite of herself, and in spite of the rain, she smiled. "It's Leo!" She called back, and returning to the receiver she said, "Yoooooo!"

"Yooooooo!"

"Yooooooooo!"

"Hehehehehe," She was vaguely wondering how he held the phone up with no arms while he continued to talk, "So listen, I was thinking since it's raining and I have a lot of string I can't do anything with, could I come over and make stuff with you? The only catch is I gotta bring my sister along."

Leo's sister was lovely. Frisk looked back to Toriel, mouthing "can Leo and Cleo come over?"

She nodded, and all of a sudden the children were making plans.

Now, each time the phone rang, Frisk answered it.

It didn't make the loneliness of rainy days disappear, but at these times she remembered that she wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Headcanon'd the Monster Kid's sister to be named Cleo because I'm so creative :B


	5. The Mt Ebott Dare (Part 1)

**Title** : The Mt. Ebott Dare (Part 1)

 **Rating** : K

 **Feat** : Frisk, Human Children

 **Word Count** : 2,157

* * *

After leaving the city for a little ways, the bus ran through a village that by now was deserted.

It wasn't abandoned that long ago. Only in the last couple years. It was a village full of old people and small children, which had been dying out fairly quickly anyway. When some of the children started disappearing, the younger adults came back, took their relatives into the city, and left the whole place behind.

Now it was just another spot for the bus to rattle through, some of the kids on it taking pictures with disposable cameras. One child didn't take pictures, having foregone buying a disposable camera so she could buy a box of candy instead.

Soon the village was gone, too, and the bus went on up a dirt road lined with crowds of bright yellow flowers. The incline became steeper and steeper; ahead of them now was Mt. Ebott, rising so high the top couldn't be seen. The child that was munching on candy didn't look at it, though, ignoring both that sight and all the other kids whispering about it. The city where the bus came from winked back at her in the distance, off to the side of the back window. It grew smaller all the time.

This far out there wasn't a lot of human life, rangers aside. There wouldn't be anything but wilderness.

The bus had reached the last sign of civilization, a rest stop, shortly before driving through the village. The child had perked up at that moment, when the bus stopped.

The director at the front gave a speech, which no one heard. When that was over, everyone stood up. The child fell back in her seat proper and bounced into the aisle, the back of a line of kids filing out onto the pavement.

With benches, soda machines, bathrooms, and snacks, it was an old tourist trap with all the trappings and the children loved it. Inside, only one or two people from the city were manning the building, bored young adults paid to drive all the way out in the wilderness and keep a lookout for teens. The children ignored them too, heading to the snacks and soda machines or streaming in pairs to the bathroom.

There was no one to go to the bathroom with her, so the child bought her packet of candy and took a drink from the fountain. When that was done, she quietly stood by the bus.

The orphanage director kept glancing her way, and she would meet her gaze with simple bewilderment. Eventually she approached the girl, "Frisk, did you save any of your money?"

Frisk shook her head.

"Did you want any more to buy something else?"

Again, she shook her head.

From behind the director, the older kids, as they always did, shook their heads and rolled their eyes after catching just a glimpse of her. Frisk met their eyes easily enough, facing them with simple bewilderment like always, and then they couldn't help but laugh to themselves as they left her behind, muttering in low voices.

It was pretty normal for her to not speak to anyone.

That was going to change today, but when she piled back on the bus with the rest of the kids it didn't feel like it. She was content not to say a word, because everyone was content not to say a word to her. She'd enjoyed the sight of the village in silence. Then, the kids all picked out their friends when the bus came to a stop again, this time on a large nature trail that wound up Mt. Ebott. Frisk lingered in the back while they all talked among themselves, her candy left behind on the bus.

The air out here was nice. They weren't all the way up Mt. Ebott, obviously, only still walking around at its base. Still, the elevated air felt fresh and free of most smells, except for that of some of the flowers that dotted the landscape. It was also quieter, more peaceful, with the children in front of her almost feeling out of place in light of it.

From this height she could already see the whole abandoned village that the bus passed on the way to this trail. All of the buildings were spread out next to a river that started somewhere in the mountain, nobody left living there and nobody come to take them down. Well, the houses were solidly built, and unlikely to degrade for a very long time. It added a bit to the mysterious scenery.

As they walked, the conversations of the other children became more audible to her over time. Two of the older boys were talking to a smaller one, a kid almost shorter than she was with a strong cowlick. "You know this is the first time that Mrs. Ellison has ever brought us up here to go hiking? Do you know why that is?"

"Why?" She was of the opinion that this boy's name was Plasky.

"Before now, there were always the villagers here to harass anyone trying to come to these parts. They're really scared of this place; they hardly let anyone through, especially not people with kids," the older boys said. "They're really superstitious out here."

"What's superstitious?" Plasky's question echoed the one in Frisk's head.

The boys said, "It means that they believe there's something wicked about the mountain."

Frisk stopped walking for only a moment, studying the terrain that surrounded them. Beyond the hiking trail they used, there was a grassy hill going up into the trees. It didn't look wicked to her. Yet the boys kept talking, "They say that monsters live under it. And that anyone who climbs up the mountain and disturbs the monsters will disappear."

"D-disappear?" Plasky stopped walking, his little body trembling with fear. Frisk came to a stop right behind him, and one of the boys glanced at her as another audience member. He grinned and said, "Yeah, the monsters catch you and grind you up into sauce."

From farther ahead in the group, one of the older girls turned back when catching wind of their conversation. "Are you telling them about that old story?" Without an answer, she walked back over to them. "They're right. This mountain's haunted."

Plasky and Frisk didn't say anything.

The girl popped gum as the rest of their group went farther and farther away up the trail. "That's why the director brought us all up here. She's going to leave some of you at the top for the monsters to eat. Didn't you hear about all those missing kids?"

Frisk had not heard about all those missing kids. Plasky huffed, his cowlick flicking, "That's not true! She wouldn't do that!"

"Yes she would. She told me. She's going to take all you loud-mouthed younger kids at the top of the mountain and tell you to wait for her. Then she's gonna leave you there and the monsters will get you. She said she's sick of taking care of little creeps like _you_ , Plasky."

"There's no such thing as monsters."

The quiet voice startled all four of the children, and they all turned to look at Frisk.

Although half thinking she would surprise them again and say something else, this show of lungs was apparently a one-time thing for the child. The girl sneered, and one of the boys smiled nastily at her and said, "Oh yeah? So you're not scared?"

Frisk shook her head.

"Well," as he spoke, the boy grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her towards the grassy incline beyond the path. "I dare you to climb up the mountain by yourself, then. Where the monsters are waiting."

She stared up that incline, feeling Plasky pull on her sleeve, "C'mon, we should catch up with the others..."

"Sure, if you guys are scared the monsters will get you while we're alone," said the older girl from behind.

"Come on. Climb up Mt. Ebott alone, I dare you."

 _You dare me...?_

"Let's just go, they're being liars-!"

Frisk pulled gently out of the little boy's sweaty grip, climbing up a tiny ledge off the hiking trail.

"Ah! Where are you going? Come back!" She knew that Plasky could not call her name, because he didn't know what it was. She turned back to look at him and smiled, before getting onto her feet and climbing up the little hill.

The wind moving through the trees whistled to her as she walked nearer to them, gravity pulling her far forward.

"Wow they're actually climbing," the boy said from below her. Both boys, and the girl, shifted nervously and exchanged looks as Frisk began to enter the shadows of the trees.

"Come back!" Plasky shouted. "Please! We have to catch up with the group!"

Frisk didn't stop. When the incline got too steep, she started to climb on all fours and grabbed at tree branches to pull herself higher, small rocks and dirt giving way wherever her feet left.

"Crap, where are you going you stupid kid?!" The girl called. "You're gonna get lost!"

"I'm going after them-" Frisk turned her head back once, eyes locking on the other older boy who had until now been mostly silent. He'd started to climb over the ledge, and he stood up on the grass, watching her. As he started to walk up, however, his body began to tremble and he went no further. "U-uhh... the air's kind of, it's, kind of weird here. C-come on you, get d-down here!"

Unimpressed, Frisk turned away and continued climbing, hearing no sounds of the others climbing after her. Just their louder and louder calls.

"It was just a joke, get back here!"

"Hey! Kid! Can you hear me! Are they stupid!?"

"Are you retarded? Where are you going!?"

"Go get Mrs. Ellison!"

"Come back! Come back please! Pleas-"

"Frisk! I think that's their name? Frisk, come back!"

"Frisk!"

"Get back down here Frisk!"

Just when Frisk thought the hill couldn't get steeper, she rounded the top and found herself on a more level surface, full of more trees. Their calls were getting more distant now.

In front of her there was a cave set into the mountain, the grass ending a little bit where it began.

"?" Ignoring the voices that were getting faint in her ears, Frisk walked into the cave with raised eyebrows. There was wind blowing from somewhere. If it led out higher into the mountain, maybe she would be able to cut off the hiking group and scare the hell out of somebody.

She was grinning when she went in, although it wasn't a malicious grin. The wind of the cool, dark cave felt nice. She started walking.

* * *

The cave seemed to go on forever, up inclines and ledges or on level ground. Some of the structures, if she didn't know better, even looked as though they were staircases carved in the rock a long time ago, one path moving down and another one moving up. Occasionally, the sun peeked through large and small cracks in the ceiling. It was getting lower in the sky as she went.

Frisk didn't know how long she climbed upwards for when something new occurred. By then, she just knew that she was weary and a little nervous that there wasn't a way out of this cave, after all. That was what she got for always running off on her own, she supposed.

Then there was a sound, and her breath whooshed out from between her teeth.

It seemed like a moan, but no kind of moan that she'd ever heard before. Unearthly.

 _There's no such things as monsters._

 _There's no such thing._

She heard the sound again.

"!"

It was behind her, it felt like. Frisk started to run, smothering a yelp in her mouth.

She knew she was foolish. It was probably the wind, or something like that, moving through the cracks. Making noises. Or maybe it was an animal, from somewhere outside...

Still, heart hammering Frisk kept running.

Until there was suddenly no ground beneath her feet.

The girl let out a shrill scream as she fell down, and then the only noise left above was the singing of birds somewhere.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Just a thing that I started a long time ago and finished after putting it off for a while. Now you know what the name of this fic is referring to.


	6. A Pair of Scientists (ASL Verse)

**Title:** ASL Aftermath: A Pair of Scientists

 **Feat:** Asgore, Toriel (kinda), Alphys, Dr. Gaster

 **Rating:** K

 **Word Count:** 2,671

* * *

I told the human I would visit Alphys as soon as I could, before anything else happened. I wouldn't know why they'd care in the first place, but when promising that I lied.

It happens; they lie, I lie. Well, to be more fair, I forgot. My inevitable confession to King Asgore was at that point the only thing on my mind. That and all the dust that I had to scrape carefully off of my hands and coat. ...And my very loud travel companion, with the kind of lungs I didn't expect from a fish monster. So in all that, visiting Alphys and all the awkwardness that was sure to ensue slipped my mind completely. Oh, well, I had left our phone call with a definite air of finality. So it's not like she would be expecting me to drop by on the way.

The meeting I had with Asgore was painful enough.

Now that I am back in the true reality, everyone has remembered that I existed. I don't know if Sans has told them what I did, or even if I am back- the only monster I'm assured he told was Queen Toriel. With good reason, I and my escort avoided running into any of the monsters in New New Home, so I still don't quite know the answers to those questions. And so when we reached the palace, and Asgore, not knowing what he knew, I don't know what exactly I was expecting from the king.

A big _bear hug_ was, however, most assuredly not on the list.

He was overjoyed to see that I was alright. Apologetic for not realizing that I was missing for so many years, although admittedly less so when he knew that everyone else had suffered the same kind of amnesia. But he grew more solemn in time as I told him everything that I had done. In as clear terms as I could.

Yet by the time I finished, I realized that he wasn't surprised by a word of it. Apparently... Toriel had already told him, angrily, by phone, before I arrived. Something he neglected to tell me until I had finished giving every sordid detail of my crimes.

I would accuse Asgore of wanting to make me suffer by that retelling, or at least to use this moment as a sort of test, but knowing him as well as I do I'm sure he just was too polite to interrupt.

So that just left the matter of what was to be done with me.

Unorganized as it was, that took a while to be decided. Queen Toriel was also brought in on the discussion; although she'd separated from him, she was still Asgore's wife and had a role in governing when situations like these- like me- came up. It was probably for the best. She wanted me executed; she no longer has any reason to trust me not to inflict harm on others, which I suppose is how it should be. As I suspected, Asgore did not share her pragmatism. There was an argument- a long one, of which I didn't hear everything that was being said but I got the gist of their separate sentiments. I was reminded that the queen has a very colorful vocabulary.

I have no opinion on how I wanted the sentencing to go. As it stands I am a murderer who has conducted illegal experiments on- on children. I've stolen funds, and I've apparently? assaulted the human ambassador of New New Home, and various other petty things. Everything I tried to do, the goals I told myself I was working for, that all came to nothing in the end. I was only racking up that list, indulging myself, and in doing so I helped no one.

Saying I have no opinion is another lie. I don't want to exist anymore.

Eventually, though, Asgore prevailed by some means, although Toriel was far from happy. I wasn't going to be killed, and the kingdom's track record of having no executions since the war was kept intact. Instead, I'd be imprisoned indefinitely for what I had done.

Although by now I'm seriously wondering if "imprisoned" is the word that I would use. There isn't a jail in New New Home, as the crime rate in this city is next to nonexistent. So for now, I'll be rooming in the castle basement. It's not that bad. It's below ground, so the air is a little chilly, but Asgore showed me where the thermostat was if it got too unbearable. As far as furnishings go it is fairly empty, only a few chairs and untouched chains in the corner, and everything is the same grey color as it was upstairs. So that I wouldn't get bored, Asgore gave me a notebook to write in and said if I needed anything at all I could just ask.

I'm not sure he really gets the "prison" thing. Oh, well, I'm grateful for the notebook.

Only a day or so has passed since I "moved in," so to speak. Not that I asked at any point, but I haven't had any updates on what happened to the human, or those two. Sans and Papyrus. I'm assuming they went back home without any more trouble. There's probably also been a few funerals held already for the dusted monsters that were brought back. I wonder what Undyne and Asgore did, when their families asked what happened to their loved ones. What did they tell them?

I haven't slept since coming back. Maybe I should at least ask for a bed. Sleeping would take up some of the time I can't pass otherwise, although I know if I start thinking that way, I'll start sleeping more and more until that's all I do. Like... Sans.

Is someone coming down the stairs?

* * *

If he wasn't going to come see her, she was going to come see him instead. ...Even if it took her a couple days, two liters of soda, and several episodes of the new series "Strike on und Ubermensch" to work up the nerve. Each day she didn't go check out what was going on in the castle, ignoring phone calls, felt terrible. She ended up hiding under the covers and staying up all night on the last day she spent at home. But, as was happening more often, she was surprised by how the tension in her stomach relaxed when she finally walked all the way there and learned what was up from Asgore.

It was just a little bit, though. Alphys still felt butterflies when she crept down to the basement. It was easy to enter; although there was a sticky note reminding whoever saw it to lock the door on the way out, that same door slid open _way_ too easily when Alphys tried the knob.

"Oh-! Umm..!" There was no going back now. She could see him sitting on the floor at the opposite wall, with a journal he'd been in the middle of writing in- now he was looking up, in her direction, shock written on his face as well as could be on a skull. "Uhhhh..."

"Dr. Alphys?"

She stopped and started again, stammering harder. "Y-yeah, it-it's me! I-I'm sorry if you d-didn't want any visitors, b-but Asgore said it w-was okay s-so I thought I should t-t-try and come down and s-so I did..."

He straightened his posture a little, letting her stammer until she trailed off. Then he asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

At that she gave a sharp start, "N-no! N-n-not at all! J-just a little bit? B-but it's just..." She risked coming a little closer in, closing the door behind her. "I-it's just m-me. Being me." She gave him a wavering, contorted smile, but he didn't smile back. "I-I-I wanted to... to come see you earlier but... y-y'know. Me being me."

"Yes, I remember," he murmured, his hands clumsily signing it. Slowly he added, "I had meant to see you as well, but certain things came up."

"Y-y-yeah, Asgore said," Alphys said, forcing a laugh. "H-how have you been doing i-in here?"

He shrugged. "It's not bad."

"T-that's good." She said back, and that was it for a second. But she couldn't, she couldn't just leave it at that. She looked up, heaving a deep breath. _Come on Alphys, you can do this!_ She forced the words from her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. "I.. I... I came too so that I could... o-over the phone it just felt... and I know other people were there, so I-I couldn't, and..."

"Alphys-"

"I'm really-!" No, she had to do this, and she had to do this without shouting it. "I'm really sorry..." That might have been too quiet, but whatever. "For what happened to you."

From across the room, she heard Dr. Gaster sigh heavily and shut the notebook, and she opened her eyes. Although she could guess what was coming next, her stomach was still seized up while he stood, placing the notebook on a chair next to him. "You don't need to worry about that. It was an accident," he said, watching her carefully.

But as tears started to gather in the corner of her vision, Alphys shook her head, "Y, you don't understand-! It wasn't j-just our fight, y-you know?" Their fight. That day which she'd recently remembered clearly, when before she could only remember vaguely. She was shouting at him, and he sounded so eerily calm, so unlike himself, as he dragged her nearer with his blue magic. She'd attacked him. The first and only time she'd ever, ever fought someone. The only reason she managed to escape was because he wasn't expecting it.

The memory was fresh, now, and still painful. But what came after, for her, was even more painful. So she desperately wiped her eyes, as her former colleague stared at her. "W-when you fell into the C-core and- and when I realized that no one knew who you w-were, I just... I just left you like that!" Stupid, stupid, stupid, to start crying like this. "I m-mean, I didn't want Sans and Papyrus to know, but... but I d-didn't even tell Asgore, or anybody. I, I didn't do anything!" The words were coming faster now.

"Alphys-"

"A-and you were trapped for all t-those years. N-not even just y-you..." The other missing monsters. She'd ignored all of them. She didn't even think she'd remembered all the ones that fell in until they came back, in hindsight. "And I u-used your theories and your equipment and your lab and y-your data, a-and didn't tell anyone and... I'm so... s-sorry...!"

Unable to speak for a second, Alphys yet felt something touch her while she sniveled and sobbed. Dr. Gaster had walked across the room and was now patting her on the back. She could just see his hands signing at her, while he spoke, "It's alright. If I were you, I wouldn't have wanted me back either."

"N-no..." She wiped her eyes another time, although it didn't do much good as she looked back at him blurrily. "I j-just... I didn't understand. I didn't understand why, why you..." She rubbed her nose and cheeks on her sleeve, trying to stop crying so hard as she dared to look back at him. Dr. Gaster only faced the floor, continuing to offer awkward comforting pats. Persistent, she choked out in another sob, "I understand a little, though. N-now. How you must have- have felt. Having something y-you can't tell anyone."

He looked up, but didn't say anything.

Taking deeper breaths, calming just a little that it was all out in the open, Alphys said hoarsely, "I r-really messed up, t-too, when you were g-gone."

Now that she wasn't sobbing so hard, Dr. Gaster took a half-step away. "I find it difficult to believe."

Alphys sniffled and laughed, weakly. "I..it's true. I c-can show you s-sometime. S-some of the monsters I had in T-true Lab during my D-d-determination experiments."

He looked again shocked, but didn't say anything for a moment, gaze traveling again to the floor. She was starting to see more clearly now, rubbing her nose and eyes one more time. For the first time, Alphys noticed that his hands didn't have the holes in them anymore. Should she ask what happened to them? Would that be rude? Maybe he didn't want to talk about that...

She cleared her throat. "S-so..." he looked up. "I... I mean, I just mean I know how it feels. Even if it was t-terrible, you just wanted to help too."

He shifted, uncomfortably. "...For the most part."

For the most part? Well, she could also get that. Alphys laughed again, a quieter one for herself. It wasn't just to help monsters, with her. Maybe, just a little bit, she'd wanted to impress Asgore. But that certainly didn't work out very well. "Yeah. For the most part."

They were silent, Dr. Gaster eventually sitting back down while Alphys regained the rest of her composure. "W-we both make quite a pair, huh? Uh!" Then her face turned red. Oh no, oh no, oh no, "A-a-a-a pair of scientists, I mean."

"Yes Alphys, I understood what you meant."

"A-a-a-and I just want to say," she squeaked, speaking through her raging blush, "T-that if you ever want to talk about it... with someone. I-I can be there for you. I-I'll understand. I-I won't judge you or, or anything. I-if you get internet service down here, w-w-we could even chat on Undernet?.?.?"

Dr. Gaster frowned, and he sighed again, not looking at her. Alphys swallowed, clasping her hands together and feeling queasy. Why was it always so hard?

Finally, he said, "I don't think I'm ready to talk about it. Besides, Sans and Papyrus are... friends of yours, now, aren't they?"

She swallowed. "... But you're my friend too. R-right?"

He stared at her. Blushing again, even harder this time, Alphys nodded and murmured, "Uhh, but I guess, um, I'll go for now, i-if you want."

"Alphys-"

She'd been inching to the door before she realized it, and his unintelligible voice stopped her in her tracks. She looked back over at him, "H-huh?"

Dr. Gaster awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Thank you." He looked up and smiled at her, albeit the smile was weak and sorely underused. "Thank you for remembering me."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Ahhh I've been really under-appreciating Alphys as a character, so here I am writing a thing with her in it.

This takes place in the verse of my longer fanfiction, ASL Tutorial, which borrows very very heavily from Zarla's Handplates AU (by which I mean I think my only intentional difference is using a Pacifist Frisk instead of the Genocide/Aborted-Genocide Frisk that's hinted at there.) Doing some one-shots as epilogues of sorts.


	7. Get Dogged On

**Title:** Get Dogged On

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Frisk, Sans, The Annoying Dog, Toriel

 **Word Count:** 1,585

* * *

The yapping of an annoying little white dog filled the air on a Sunday morning, when things were finally slowing down from the week before. It was quiet on this street of New New Home.

The city itself was quieter than the human cities, and definitely not as crowded as New Home. If only because not everyone had been relocated to their homes yet and there was a huge wilderness between here and Mt. Ebott to settle into. Moving everyone permanently above-ground was taking a while, especially when the humans of the surface were still so nervous. The human ambassador of the monster kingdom had a hard time making sure that no violence broke out on either side. The fact that she was a small child made it easier to persuade the human officials to play nice, especially after she had impressed them with tricks of "prophecy" and skill.

Being an ambassador was hard work. That was why Frisk wasn't working on Sunday, instead spending time at home playing in the front yard. It was a nice day for it; to watch them, Toriel sat at the front step and worked on sewing a suspiciously striped new sweater.

Now, while Frisk played there was occasionally her laughter, but the sound that most pervaded this area, again, was the yapping of the dog. Frisk remembered that dog as it ran by, glowing a faint red, and listened to it yap. She remembered all the problems it gave her, and how it always seemed to show up everywhere.

Ah, it looked so cute.

* * *

Sans had been on his way to one of his "jobs" passing by the house, deciding that it might almost be worth it to walk by Toriel's house and say hello.

What he found was her on the front step, watching with amusement as Frisk ran around the yard on all fours, the little kid wiggling their butt and chomping at butterflies.

He was still half-asleep, but it didn't look like a hallucination. Rubbing his eyes and blinking, as he watched he also saw a tiny and fluffy white dog running around Frisk and barking its head off, tagging wagging furiously, to which Frisk was barking and wiggling excitedly back.

Sans scratched the back of his head and then his backside as he watched in utter, bleary confusion. When the annoying dog pushed on Frisk, they pushed back. They both kept barking at each other. At one point, the dog picked up a stick in its mouth and Frisk snatched it up as well, tugging hard before having it unceremoniously ripped from their teeth. Sans looked over at Toriel, who smiled and waved. "Ah! Greetings, my friend!"

"hey," Sans waved, and then looked back at the kid. "is frisk okay?"

"Oh!" She laughed again, before going back to her work. "Frisk is a little puppy!"

Catching sight of Sans Frisk had turned and started to run towards him, at least as much as one could run on all fours, yipping at him happily with the dog running circles around her the whole time. Coming to a stop at his feet, Sans watched as the human child got up on her "hind legs" and put their hands in front of their chest, sticking out their tongue and panting. The little dog mimicked their pose for a second as the skeleton stared at the two, yet bemused.

"your puppy seems to be mysteriously lacking in fur," he said.

" _Yip! Yip!_ " Frisk barked at him, moving down and planting their palms into the dirt as they flared their nostrils and sniffed loudly.

The dog next to them, sparked by the yapping of its friend, ran up to Sans and started to sniff and paw at him. Sans staggered, "woah, woah, okay, you're not getting any hot cats buddy."

The dog kept pawing and whining, and from the grass Frisk couldn't help but giggle right before they started barking again.

Ah, he was too tired for this. "not today, furry fiend," he said, casting blue magic over the annoying dog at his feet. With a flick of his hand, he sent the animal floating down the street, the dog giving a loud yip before it landed on the ground. Then it rushed, yelping, off to annoy somebody else.

" _BARK!_ " But Frisk, on the other hand, was still here. Watching the dog run away from the yard, they let out a loud yelp that startled Sans, suddenly getting back upright–as upright as they would be when on all fours, at any rate. " _Bark bark! Bark!_ " And then, just as suddenly, Frisk growled from deep in their throat at Sans, narrowing their eyes. " _Bark bark! Ggrrrrwl, hrrrrr! Ruff! Ruff!_ "

Although shocked at first, Sans then gave a bewildered chuckle, looking down on the child who was trying to curl back a lip to snarl. "what? ...are ya gonna bite me?"

Frisk yapped and made growling noises, jerking their upper half off the ground and back again as though they were really jumping up and down. Toriel looked back up from her sewing, tilting her head curiously at the sight. Well, if nothing else, the kid seemed to be really into their role. Sans knelt down to be closer to their level, sleepily smirking at them, and the yapping got a little louder and more direct. " _Arf! Arf! Arf arf arf! Grrr! Grrr! Arf!_ "

"nah go ahead then bucko," he said, scratching at his temple as he watched their display. "i double- _dog_ dare ya."

Frisk's barking continued. "heh, okay knock it off kid, that's kind of anno-"

 _CHOMP_

Toriel yelped, hands flying to her mouth. Sans, now fully awake, stopped frozen in his tracks and just stared with shocked pinprick pupils. There was a faint pain in his arm. This was because there was a Frisk practically hanging from it now, their teeth gripping the bone through his coat sleeve; a little bit of drool was coming from their mouth and on to his sleeve, the kid unable to swallow while they held on. Their eyes appeared squeezed shut, but one was peeking at him just a little.

"Frisk!" They both heard Toriel say from the step, her face turning red with mortification.

As the shock wore off, Sans reached up with his free hand, Frisk watching it warily without releasing their hold. "huh." And then he flicked the child hard on the nose.

They let go suddenly and with a cry, falling back on their butt as Sans shook his arm vigorously. They covered their stinging nose with both hands while tears gathered in the corner of their eyes, and Sans rolled up his sleeve to make sure he wasn't cracked. But they hadn't been biting nearly hard enough for that.

"I'm so sorry!" Sans looked up, and he wearily smiled at Toriel's approaching form. "Frisk, what is the matter with you? Playing or not, you know better than to bite anyone!"

The child on the ground let out a little whimper and whine at her scolding, curling up on their stomach. They kept glancing over at Sans with their narrowed eyes, still rubbing their nose and trying to discreetly wipe the tiny tears before they fell down their cheeks. Expression softening, Sans ruffled their hair as he returned his gaze to Toriel. "naaah it's fine. you know how mutts are with _bones_."

She frowned, though. "Are you sure? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"nah i got my 1 HP still. their teeth aren't that sharp."

"Still, I think that's enough playing around for today, Frisk." Toriel murmured, still smiling apologetically at Sans. "Why don't you sit with me now okay?"

Frisk whined and flopped down into the grass. Standing back up, putting his hands in his pockets, Sans sighed and smiled at them both. "welp, i think my job here is done. have a nice rest of your afternoon, kiddo."

"Oh, are you leaving?"

He nodded back at Toriel. "gotta get to work. my break's not gonna take itself. but, uh, before i go," he brought out of his pocket a hot dog in a bun, smothered already with red ketchup. "here buddy, have the good kind of dog on me."

Smiling, Frisk started to take the hot dog with her mouth, until Toriel's glare at the child finally led them to drop the charade entirely and use their hands.

Grinning back, Sans picked up his pace down the street. "see ya."

Toriel patted Frisk on the head as she stood up with the hot dog in hand, "No more biting, okay?" She couldn't believe she had to make that a rule.

Nodding obediently, deciding not to point out their doggy reasons, the child bit into the hot dog that Sans gave them.

The hot red sauce on it was not ketchup.

As Frisk screamed and ran into the house for water, Sans laughed and disappeared entirely. " _Get owned, you nerd_."

* * *

 **Author:** "But he dared me to :c"

For some reason not a lot of Undertale people depict Sans pranking Frisk as often as I think he would. Albeit in most cases it would in my mind just be because Frisk is so easy to dupe, and not explicitly for a little light-hearted revenge as shown here.


	8. Counted in Minutes (ASL Verse)

**Title:** ASL Aftermath: Counted in Minutes

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Alphys, Papyrus, Frisk, Gaster

 **Word Count:** 1,915

* * *

She woke up in a cold sweat, finding herself out of breath and tangled in the sheets, unsure for a moment what it was that had woken her-it had not been the dream itself. The child could not discern what it was until the images in front of her eyes, burned there from her closed eyelids, faded away completely; then she looked around, squinting. At this hour there was typically darkness in this blue room, except for the little purple nightlight in the corner that had dimmed over an hour ago, but this time there was something else. The phone on her bedside table was glowing, and so she blearily reached to it.

Someone had sent her a message. She looked at the sender for a long time.

Then, sitting up and throwing the sweaty covers to the ground, the child pulled the phone into her lap. It had been the ping of the message that woke her up.

 _SANS sent you a text!: heya tori. are u up_

Exhaling, Frisk rubbed her eyes and typed back: _Its frisk and i am now_

Then she lay back in back, waiting for the time it would take him to respond. At its worst, it was half a day before he sent something back, when she had already forgotten the conversation entirely. Would she fall back asleep by the time she heard that pinging again?

As it turned out, she only had to wait ten minutes. She had not fallen asleep by then. _SANS sent you a text!: oh crap srry_

 _SANS sent you a text!: this is toris phone so._

With a brief smile, Frisk responded: _She let me borrow it and its okay i was having a bad dream._

 _SANS sent you a text!: eyyyy me too_ This one only took five minutes.

But now it was Frisk who hesitated when sending her message. She rubbed her forehead and set the phone down for a second, chewing on her upper lip. Her eyes fell on the dim purple nightlight, letting out something between a sigh and a yawn, and she hesitantly typed out a message: _Ouch you okay?_

Ten minutes. _SANS sent you a text!: yeah im fine_

Five minutes. _SANS sent you a text!: lucky paps barely sleeps_

Two minutes. _SANS sent you a text!: cant get back to sleep though_

Frisk lay down and for a while held the phone over her face as she replied, at least getting to rest her arms while waiting for Sans to complete his message. At some point, that would be replaced by laying on her stomach, and from there hanging off the bed. From there, forgoing the bed entirely and just sitting with her back against the wall while the phone's light illuminated her face. _I probly wont sleep either._

 _SANS sent you a text!: hey how did the dentist go_

At this, the child had run her tongue over the new tooth in her mouth, smooth and pearly and not quite fitting in with the rest. They said that it was the strongest tooth in her jaw, now. She'd asked if they could knock out all of her teeth and replace them with these ones, and the dentist had just laughed. Toriel took her out of the building before the child could make it clear she was serious. _It was okay. Tori healed me up so it doesn't even hurt now._

 _SANS sent you a text!: that's great_

 _Yeah its pretty sweet._

Twenty minutes. _SANS sent you a text!: srry we didnt come w/ you_

Ten more minutes while Frisk rubbed her eyes. _Sans sent you a text!: idk dentists r weird_ Another came immediately afterward: _pap here he is also vry vry srry_

Frisk laughed. _Pap it is okayyyyy_

 _SANS sent you a text!: he says if youre suuuure_

 _I'm suuuuure._

And then there was silence between the both of them, as Frisk chewed on her inner cheek thoughtfully and looked up at the ceiling. There were some stars painted on it that weren't quite white enough to glow in the dark, closer to yellow when the lights were on. It was nice, though, to see them there. She yawned. This would be a good stopping point. A good place to change the subject, to one that Sans could sleep to. If he fell asleep, there was hope for her too. The phone's inner clock told her that it was three in the morning. Four more hours before she could get up for real.

Frisk touched her tooth again. "Huh..." it was so smooth, not like her others. Of course when she was little she bit all kinds of things, and when she ground her teeth at night that just made the problem worse, so they were all sharp in their own unique ways.

Pretty tooth.

 _SANS sent you a text!: whazzup_

 _I think I'm gonna go to Asgore's after school tomorrow._

 _SANS sent you a text!: cool_

 _Gonna show Gaster my tooth._

 _SANS sent you a text!: not as cool_

 _Do you wanna come with me?_

 _SANS sent you a text!: wtf no_

 _What does wtf mean?_

 _SANS sent you a text!: sadkfkSGJRTHYTIJRNKvkdfkghgfjldtseibthmyrknbk gtrksks ksfkkk_

 _SANS sent you a text!: dskfgksdfk_

 _SANS sent you a text!: opppadm_

Alarmed, Frisk was in the middle of writing out a text message to ask if Sans had just had a stroke from her question, and if she should call an ambulance or something, but right before pressing send another messaged pinged her way.

 _SANS sent you a text!: IT IS I PAPYRUS I HAVE COMMANDEERED THE PHONE._

 _SANS sent you a text!: FRISK CAN I COME WITH YOU TOMORROW?_

Frisk blinked. It was a decision she made on the spur of the moment, and maybe in the morning it wouldn't seem like such a smart one. Hence just telling it to Sans. But it looked as if she had no choice now. At least she would get to talk to Asgore, too.

After the dream she had, that would do her good.

Clacking her teeth together against the new one, Frisk sent a message a minute later: _Yeah if you want!_

 _SANS sent you a text!: GOOD BECAUSE I DO!_

She smiled, in spite of herself. _Okay, I'll meet you after school._

 _SANS sent you a text!: kfksf_

 _SANS sent you a text!: YES GOOD!_

 _Also what does wtf mean?_

 _SANS sent you a text!: YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO KNOW THAT GO TO BED._

 _Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine goodniiiiiight sleep welllll_

It took her forty-five hellish minutes to go to sleep.

* * *

Elsewhere in New New Home, someone else's phone would ping periodically.

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: Hey! Are you up?_

The text that followed was sent quickly, and then each flew back and forth just as fast.

 _How did you get this number?_

 _I just got this phone today._

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: Um? I asked? Asgore? He said it was okay?_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: Anyway I guess that is a yes? :0_

 _Yes I am up._

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: Me too haha watching a really good movie for the fiftieth time. What's your excuse? :V_

 _I can't sleep._

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: Oh geeze is it something I can help with?_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: omg you did get a bed put down there right?_

 _I don't know._

 _Yes I asked for a bed._

 _Dr. Alphys why did you text me in the first place?_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: uhhhhhh_ _uhhhh uhhhh_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: I wanted to make sure I got the right number_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: ;u; I can stop if you want?_

Here the chain was broken, as the next text took a few minutes to send. Dr. Gaster rubbed a hand over his face and curled up by the wall with a soft sigh, the only light in the basement being that phone that stared placidly back at him.

This phone Asgore just up and gave him because apparently he was going to need it for whatever he would be doing in the future.

Today had been weird. The king insisted he stop moping in the basement and gave him a tour of the castle; it was the exact same as the old one, minimalist color palette and all. It had made Dr. Gaster feel sick inside, so he asked his Majesty if he had anything better to do with his time and mercifully, as it turned out, there were some things he had forgotten.

Slowly he typed: _This phone isn't ideal._

 _It's a little old._

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: lol come to my lab tomorrow I can upgrade it for you so it's more like your old one._

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: or even BETTER than your old one? :O_

 _Is that really alright?_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: uh uh yeah I think so? literally just ask Asgore he'll probably say okay_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: I could come over there but my equipment is here orzzz_

There was another surge of that sick feeling. In this basement there was nothing to make it go away, nothing he could concentrate on, nothing he could use to distance himself.

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: if it really makes you uncomfortable I mean I'm sure someone could bring it to me?.?_

 _I broke Sans' eye._

There.

Now she wasn't sending anything. Not for a long, long time, and the light of his phone dimmed waiting for her response. Dr. Gaster sighed again and leaned back against the wall.

Then, just when he was sure she'd forgotten and gone back to her movie, he heard a ping from that dreadful phone.

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: OMG?.?.?_

Ten minutes. He put the phone down again.

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: I mean he seems to get around okay?_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: i mean if you were worried about that_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: i never saw him crash into anything :V_

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: so i think youre good_

Five more minutes.

 _ALPHYS sent you a text!: gaster?_

Ten more.

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: did u go to sleeeep?_

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: ah i'm literal trash im realy really sorry_

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: sorry i'm really sorry i really really am_

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: you can drop by or send the phone or whatever still if you still want to_

Twenty more.

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: ok_

 _ALPHYS_ _sent you a text!: try to get some sleep._

He didn't pick it back up.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm not sure if anyone is as amused reading texting conversations between characters as I am writing them, but since I am amused writing them I am posting this regardless!

Once again, another short that takes place in the same verse as my longer fic ASL Tutorial, since I'm still getting ideas for that. I guess as far as aftermaths go this would be for anyone who was wondering about Frisk's tooth situation and the phone situation between all the characters now.


	9. The Mt Ebott Dare (Part 2)

**Title:** The Mt. Ebott Dare (Part 2)

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Chara

 **Word Count:** 1,140

* * *

No one noticed that anything was missing, at least not at first. The villagers were always preoccupied with themselves in the morning, getting the day started with baking and praying. The only person who would be expected to notice the difference was also one of the only people to not get up early. They were still lying in an alcoholic stupor on the couch, TV quietly chatting to no one.

The sun was rising above the tops of the trees and houses back in the village; it cast lengthy shadows that traveled to the abused and disused mountain trail, as well as the gold flowers that grew in bunches beside it. Soon that mountain trail would light up with the sun's rise. When that sunlight struck the flowers ahead of everything else, the buttercups glowed for just a second, like yellow bulbs lighting the path up to those haunted, elevated grounds.

She liked to play in that field in the early morning, not just to escape the chatter of the TV but so that she alone could witness that sight. Today she wouldn't get to see it. She stopped once on the trail and looked back towards the village, all the buildings looking so old in the new sunlight. She thought about all the people in their houses, absorbed with their own lives, and her lip curled.

Her gaze swept down to the flowers at the foot of the trail, which were already touched by the sun alongside everything else. No longer special.

Then the child turned heel and continued her laborious climb, munching on a breakfast she packed herself of biscuits, chocolate syrup, and honey-nut granola bars. The mountain was growing steeper as she walked and grass was slick with dew, so multiple times the small child almost slipped and dropped the basket altogether. Still, they didn't let it go yet. It was the only food they were guaranteed to have for a while.

The child kept going.

At some point the trail leveled out a little, although still slowly going up. At some point it would probably reach close to the summit, and some said that those who stood on the summit were able to see the whole world below from all directions.

At least, the immediate world. Mt. Ebott was no Mt. Everest. Discarding hyperbole, the child was not interested in reaching the summit of the mountain. Their destination was steeped in lore, not mere exaggeration.

In the village there was a legend, one that the child had heard from the adults since before she could even remember. That story was replicated on signs throughout the town, to observe on religious holidays and festivals; despite the scorn that she used to display for it, the child had since committed the tale to memory from hours reading the signs.

It was a myth that, centuries before, the land was ruled by two races, monster and man. The two of them warred, terribly, and many people were killed before the monsters were finally defeated and fled, the dust of their soldiers scattering the landscape. The fleeing monsters were sealed underground with a magical Barrier, underneath the very Mt. Ebott that the child was climbing up right now.

The start of the war wasn't important. The signs didn't say, and none of the adults could tell her the answer. Her father said, when capable of coherency, that he heard from his father it was a dispute over population problems. Or something like that.

 _That means that the humans delivered the first blows_ , the child had thought to herself. That was the kind of thing they would hide, that she hid.

Whatever the reason, in the end the village, her village, was erected near this mountain, far away from the human city. The people that lived in it solemnly swore to keep watch over the haunted mountain that held the creatures inside, and to make sure they never came out again through the cracks. By any means necessary.

The descendants of those watchmen included the child herself who was climbing up the mountain, in search of the cracks through which monsters could pass through.

She was not climbing to stop them as her forefathers had promised.

 _If they could make it out of there, they surely would have by now, right?_

The trail wound up Mt. Ebott for a long ways. It was past noon by the time the child came to a stop. Her basket was empty, and she discarded it on the grassy incline just beyond the trail as she climbed up. There was a cave just within her vision, set into the side of the mountain. A large yawning cave; when the ground was level enough, the child stumbled to her feet and ran inside.

 _If the Barrier is only in one place, what would be keeping them? Do they need help?_

The cave had to be man-made. Or, at least, the steps in it had to be. There was no way for it to be otherwise, with how perfectly they were carved. The child wasn't sure at first which way to go, fearing getting lost, but the barest rays of light shining through holes in the ceiling illuminated patterns on the wall that she recognized from back home.

It was an old language that no one used anymore except for ceremonies.

She knew where to go. Well, she kind of knew where to go.

 _"You would not_ dare _to trespass there, child. That is a haunted place."_

The child smirked as the cave opened up, and they stood in a place with far more light shining from above. In this large cavern, there was a gigantic hole in the ground that beckoned to her just as the cave had beckoned. She, for a moment, thought she could hear noises coming from it.

Was this it?

 _"You'll only find evil there."_

The child took her tentative steps forward, craning her head to see into the abyss. Her heart burned with curiosity, and something else.

 _I find evil anywhere._

A crack that monsters crawled through... it was a pretty big crack, encircled with plant life. If she looked down, would she see the monsters?

 _I would dare. I would d-!_

Her foot caught.

The girl tripped, and her little body went hurtling over the edge of the hole in the ground. She silently was swallowed by the abyss, and then everything was the usual buzz in the cave again.

Until, seconds later, a _crack!_ was heard, followed by piteous screams.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This is Part 2 even though it's not chronologically second orz and it's shorter. "The Dare" from Chara's perspective.


	10. Bombs Aweb! (Bomb Verse)

**Title:** Bombs Aweb!

 **Rating:** K+

 **Feat:** Muffet, Frisk

 **Word Count:** 2,912

* * *

The hallway that she found herself in now was pretty dark. Frisk self-consciously walked with constant glances left and right, if not forward—she couldn't see anything forward. But even though she couldn't see anything at the time, she could hear something like scuttling across the floor. Something else moving in the dark hallway. And at the same time, she could feel something dragging at her feet, like she was occasionally stepping through watered down molasses.

For comfort, she took out the cup of tea that she bought so long ago at Waterfall—was it magic, or just a miracle that the cup still felt warm in her hands and hadn't spilled once? She hadn't taken a sip from it yet. She hadn't needed to. But she had a feeling like she might need it soon enough.

At last, when she'd walked through the dark hall for a ways, the child heard an unmistakable giggle out of the darkness and the whoosh of a match flaring to life. Following that giggle, something new appeared that brought her to a complete halt; a glow, one which dimmed after a few second before it softly grew brighter and brighter, until it illuminated a fat purple cigar. The cigar was the source of the light, and inside that light the object glimmered like gossamer wings, faint smoke trails reaching up to the invisible ceiling beyond.

The one holding the cigar in her mouth, Frisk recognized immediately. The girl from the stand outside this hall, with all eight of her eyes trained on the child and her six hands all hidden behind her back as she stood, suspended by thinly spun, yet gigantic, spider webs.

The threads were beginning to shine all around her in the dim light of the cigar, thin and white. They hung from the ceiling and walls in patterns, like delicate textiles, and clustered thickly over the very floor the child was walking on. She had tangles of web crowded around her feet even now; unknowingly, she had been dragging herself through them the whole time, leaving a broken trail of empty floor in her wake.

As Frisk stomped her feet frantically, trying to regain some of her mobility, she heard that spider lady start to speak as with one exposed hand she pulled her cigar out. Her fangs also winked in the light of the cigar. "I heard something down the grapevine recently," she said with a little giggle.

 _Muffet. That's what someone had called her_. Someone small that she hadn't seen. Yet she could remember that voice, and the name. Even when she was just selling ridiculously overpriced snacks, Frisk felt there was something off about this Muffet person. Now she was starting to feel that this was true. But despite her uneasy feeling the child continued to approach her with a neutral expression, kicking away the webs that were crowding so thickly around her feet.

"I heard," Muffet said, "That there's a human underground who _hates_ spiders. A human wearing a striped shirt."

Frisk looked down at her shirt, unconsciously.

"That wouldn't happen to be you...

Would it?"

A final giggle, and then suddenly Muffet, placing her cigar back between her lips, drew all her hands out from behind her back. Five large black balls were held in her dainty little hands, a six rolling into her final empty hand from somewhere in the webbing across the hallway. As the child looked over at her in shock, she tossed one ball in the air, then another, and then another. Until she was juggling them, the strange orbs almost impossible to see in the dim light as they flew through the air above Muffet's head.

Then, a second light appeared, bouncing through the air and sticking to one of the black balls she juggled. Frisk stared at it in puzzlement, the burning light taking a second to register.

And then suddenly Muffet lobbed it into the air, _away_ from her and _towards_ Frisk.

The child screamed, but because she screamed and the webbing tripped her up, she didn't move out of the way in time. The ball fell into the webs right before her and stuck fast, the burning light getting closer and closer to it-a sparkling light on the fuse of a bomb. The fuse burned down to nothing while Frisk was tripping over herself and the object burst in a shower of web and spiders.

 **\- 5 HP**

Frisk gasped sharply as some of them began crawling on her from where they landed, muttering to themselves. The webs were in her hair, on her arms and legs, not hindering her movement but, like the spiders, she reflexively began to tear them off her with a series of sharp gasps which threatened to turn into shrieks. Spiders, spiders, spiders-

"Oh dear~" She heard Muffet croon from up above, and there was another sound as another fuse began to burn. "Do you not like it? I think they look good on you."

Frisk had hardly kicked off the last of the spiders before she saw Muffet lobbing another of her bombs, the last one already replaced. She scrambled to her feet, kicking at the webs with force, and ran from this one. There were a few spots on the ground clear of webbing, and she hurried to those spots for just a little bit of room to pick up speed. The bomb exploded right behind her, and while she wasn't hurt she did intake to feel something catch into her hair. She cried out, "Stop!"

And Muffet, smiling, just said as she lit another fuse, "Reduced damages cost extra, you know."

The next bomb Frisk had to scramble backward to avoid, sadly back in the direction of the first few where the webs were crowded and clung to her feet. The size of each web varied; some of them were pretty big and solid, particularly for spider silk. Frisk thought about it as she staggered to the left, although not far enough away from another explosion of webs and spiders that stung badly, as well as made her spit and fling her arms. **\- 3 HP**

The stronger and thicker the web, the less it stuck to her skin. Perhaps if she could use those webs to climb, then she could reach that girl...

... But somewhere a little less crowded than here. As another fuse flared to life nearby, Frisk kicked off the silk as best she could and ran to the opposite side of the hall, to the less crowded floors and to the draping ropes of spider web. She called out, the bomb lobbed far over her head, "I don't want to fight you!"

"Uhuhuhuhu! That's too bad, dearie~" Muffet said, using a free hand to remove her cigar for another moment. She tossed three bombs through the air and then, with that cigar, lit all three before scattering them in the child's general direction. "If I can get my hands on your _SOUL_ , I wouldn't even need to sell snacks in Hotland anymore."

Instead of dodging the bomb that flew right at her, Frisk took the opportunity while Muffet was talking to chew on a cinnamon bunny, immediately feeling her injuries heal before getting an explosion to the face.

 _Your HP was maxed out._

 **-5 HP**

With a startled yelp Frisk fell backwards, hands releasing the spider web rope, and then immediately she squirmed and hissed as the resultant spiders ran off her with begrudging whispers. The child uttered a snarl until they were all off her and scrambled away. If she could reach the entrance to the hall, maybe she could-

But another lit bomb fell at her feet in front of her, catching on the sticky threads and bouncing in place. Frisk, tripping hundreds of times with each lift of her feet, turned back with a stifled yell. "Stop! You've made a mistake!"

While the child ran around her, Muffet laughed. "There's no mistake here dearie~, except for all the times I keep missing you." At that, she tossed another bomb and it exploded upon impact with the ground, showering Frisk's back in webs. **-2 HP**

Each direction that the girl went in, eventually she found a bomb landing by her feet and she had to turn to a different one- she didn't dare jump over the explosives to the other side. In that way, she found herself boxed in to that hall. The spider webs weren't obscuring the exits from her but, slowed by the webs draping around her body and at risk of the bombs, there was no way to completely escape Muffet. Sometimes she could avoid her projectiles, and sometimes she could not. **-5 HP**

 **-1 HP**

 **-1 HP**

But eventually, after one more knocked the girl off her feet and on to her back, something changed.

"Oh?" As Frisk crab-walked backwards the rain of explosions mercifully stopped, and Muffet stood alone on her platform of webs with no more of them in her arms. She blew out a puff of smoke from her cigar and gave a deep frown. "I can't be out already! Maybe I just need to replenish my stock..."

Frisk took deep breaths and took a long, much needed chew of a cinnamon bunny she'd been saving. _Your health is maxed out_.

"In the meantime," Slowly, Muffet lowered herself closer and closer to the ground. From below, Frisk suddenly could hear something-could see something-and her heart skipped a beat. "I think _this_ kind of bomb works _just as well_ on nasty little human children."

A gigantic purple head with sharp jagged teeth and eight bulbous black eyes rose from the webs as though up from a trapdoor in the ground, uttering an unearthly hiss that made all of the child's hair stand on end. She wanted to scream and run, but as someone told her lately, screaming wasn't allowed. The sound was dead in her mouth while the monster came up higher and higher, giant legs pulling it upright.

Rising from the head, like a horn, was a gigantic black fuse-candle that swayed back and forth with every movement the monster made. Muffet, lowered as she was, took out her cigar and held it up to the fuse tip, until that too burst into sparkling, fizzing flame.

Frisk stared at that flame with a dawning sick feeling in her stomach, and as it continued to burn she struggled to decide if she should run forward to stop the flame burning or run away to try and reach the exit. In the next moment her decision was made, and she ran for the exit.

There was a space just out of this hall that was so relaxed, she thought that if she tried she could SAVE this world for the next time she perished. Which, given the amount of bombs and spiders in this battle, the girl feared was soon. She hadn't SAVED when she had the chance. If she died, if she woke up and found herself back in Waterfall...

Who knew how messed up she would feel.

There was no chance of escape now. From behind, Frisk heard a giggle coming out of Muffet and the spider woman whispered, "No chance of that, dearie." There was a scuttling sound and, heart dropping into her stomach, the child glanced back. On her dainty feet, the monster lady was running at her, fangs glittering as she smiled, cigar puffing along in her mouth like she was a train.

Frisk screamed and dodged to the side instead, feeling one of her six hands brush against her clothes when Muffet almost closed in. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!" She shouted, nearly tripping again on another web.

She could hear Muffet's laughter and then a flare, "I guess I do have one or two more bombs left! Better not try to go anywhere again, dearie!"

So the only thing left was putting out that gigantic bomb in the center of the floor- the gigantic bomb that blinked at her, turning to watch the child run no matter what direction she went in. The fuse was already almost half burnt out, and Frisk bit the inside of her cheek as Muffet pelted another smaller bomb. She dodged to the left; as she did, she blowed furiously in the direction of the candle fuse, like a child trying to make a birthday wish. The flame wavered, but didn't go out.

It was obviously too large for her to pinch out with her fingers-

If Muffet would even allow her to even stay that close, with how tirelessly she chased her. Frisk was not nearly as tireless, and was very anxious about being caught by a woman who was always, at intervals, commenting about what a great pastry she'd make as she threw the occasional explosive. Clearly she needed to do something, and fast.

Only a little of the fuse was left.

Frisk ran towards the pet again. Maybe, if she wrapped it in her sweater...

Each time she ran towards the living bomb it would turn to face her. This time, when she came ready with her hands in her sleeves to extinguish the flame, a huge maw opened up that sent Frisk back shrieking. It would swallow her for sure.

Not a lot of time. Maybe even only seconds. Muffet was even letting out a squeal, starting to ascend up the webs. "It's almost time~!"

Frisk stared at the gigantic monster and the spark beginning to descend to the very bottom, towards its head. She'd just about resigned herself to a lot of backtracking, when suddenly a new thought occurred to her.

She dug her hand into her pocket and ran towards the monster again, trying to ignore the huge mouth that chomped its sharp teeth for her. In her hands was a large cup of tea.

Uttering a grunt, the child threw the cup at the monster. At the fuse.

The whole drink of tea overturned and spilled from the cup, covering the monster's smooth shell-like head. In an instant, the flame went out.

 _The air is suddenly filled with the scent of burnt tea._

The monster was still staring at her, mouth open, as if in shock.

The cup clattered to the floor. So did Muffet, her feet making tiny clacks as she ran towards Frisk and her little pet. The child turned quickly, taking in the incensed expression on the cigar-puffing lady's face with a sharp intake of air. "You little cheat! Now I'm going to have to set the fuse up again! Fine! I'll just have to get rid of you and take that SOUL in some other-"

Her spindly little hands took hold of Frisk as she spoke. The child, heart hammering, reacted as if strung with electricity and ripped sideways from Muffet's grasp, turning in a half circle. ACTING without thinking, then she gave the spider monster a shove.

Muffet screamed as she hurtled forward. Into her pet's gaping mouth.

The mouth slammed shut and Muffet's screams continued, as Frisk clasped both hands over her mouth in horror. Had she just killed someone? Without even attacking her, had she just-?

"LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!" But now the screams were turning into high, loud whines. "HUMAN! LET ME OUT! MR. TUFFET, YOU'VE SWALLOWED THE WRONG PERSON! HUMAN!"

Frisk took a half-step back. "Uhm." She swallowed. "Uh. I- um. Um. Sorry! I'm sorry! Accident!"

"It was not an accident! Now let me out! You're not leaving, are you?"

"Yeah I'm leaving-"

"NO! Don't leave!"

Frisk turned tail and ran to the opposite end of the hall. "Bye!"

"Human! HUMAN! HUMAAAAN! WAAAAAIT!" Muffet's wails echoed over the walls as Frisk ran, and the spider monster she was trapped inside of, the aforecalled Mr. Tuffet, began to look around in bewilderment for where his master's voice was coming from. There was no way Frisk would dare running past the two twice, so she would have to forego SAVING just for now. Hopefully she would find another spot to do it soon.

 _And hopefully_ , she also thought as she stepped out onto what seemed to be a dark, stone stage. _I won't run into any more traps or bombs until then._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Someone requested that I write an AU of the fight with Muffet featuring some more explosive elements than normal, namely the bombs that you see here. I thought the idea sounded pretty fun, so I wrote it up and here we all are! We also decided on Muffet's pet being a battle obstacle as more of a giant bomb than an approaching enemy like in the real battle. Since he looks canonically like a spider muffin I thought that the candle would look pretty cute on him ;w; I decided to name him Mr. Tuffet in lieu of a canon name for now.

I don't know what kind of AU this would be specifically, maybe just a world that's a little seedier and more bomb-like.


	11. Better than Ding Blasters

**Title:** Better than Ding Blasters

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Sans, Gaster, Frisk, Papyrus (kinda), Grandpa Semi (kinda)

 **Word Count:** 1,719

* * *

Even though months had passed since taking it, Frisk still hadn't figured out what the heck that was that she had found in Sans' secret room. She still had the key that she took from his drawer, dangling uselessly on her keychain even now. Useless because, after their house and shed and everything were moved up to the surface with lots of help, Sans changed the locks on his secret room so that not even nosy, time-warping children could find their way inside.

Frisk had taken offense to being called a nosy time-warping child. As soon as she got a chance to snoop in Sans' room again, which was only once in a blue moon, she looked to find the new key. She couldn't find it in his drawer this time. She almost considered resetting a couple times until she _could_ find it, but that would probably be going too far.

Honestly, it wasn't like she understood anything that she found in there the first time anyway. What was the harm explaining it to her?

He said some things were better off locked up. _He_ didn't even go into that room anymore, he said, so what business did _she_ have? Sans did have a point, but the child had trouble still determining what was her business and what wasn't.

Every so often she just found herself thinking about all that. Sitting inside, putting off her homework, she turned the old silver key over in her hands. Then the child ran her fingers along Sans' room key, which was also useless by now, and chewed on the insides of her mouth. What was worth locking away?

A plate of fresh pie made a little clunking sound as Toriel set it down beside her, and Frisk thanked her with a smile. But she only took a few bites before lethargy set in, and the child put down her head to sleep.

* * *

In the middle of the night, sometimes little things or big things would wake Sans up. In New Home it was pretty noisy, after all. Lots of people pushed into such a cramped space, lots of loud monsters, there was always bound to be something. Over time he managed to tune out most of the noise, but every once in a while something caught him off guard. It made him very tired when he went in to work, although usually he didn't mind that. He would just drink extra coffee and be all right again before he crashed sometime in the evening. But by then, Papyrus could handle things. Kind of.

It was worse when he was woken up by things completely unrelated to the noisy New Home. Like Grandpa Semi banging around on the second floor trying to find something, or a phone call from work.

More specifically he would sometimes get woken up by a phone call from Ding-dong, as he liked to call him.

It was like that again. He felt that he had only slept for about an hour or so before hearing the phone ring by his bedside. Groaning wearily, knocked out of the lovely dream he had been having, Sans reached over and answered it. He knew who it probably was long before he heard that weird, distorted speech in what could tentatively be called his ear.

"(SANS. SANS! ARE YOU UP?)"

Even though Gaster was too oblivious to speak in regular English fonts, Sans could understand him just fine and could hear how excited he was. Although he usually was excited. He yawned before replying, "yeah i'm up. at least I am now. what's the big emergency?"

"(SANS I DISCOVERED SOMETHING REALLY BIG YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE.)"

"did you find out how to break the barrier?"

There was a little bit of static on the other side as his cousin struggled not to say no when I was clearly the correct, if disappointing, answer. He couldn't say it was _better_ than breaking the barrier, either, although he almost said that, too. The garbled noises coming out of his flustered cousin almost made him smile, until finally he heard, "(–I'M–WORKING ON IT. YOU–CAN'T RUSH–THAT.)"

His amusement over, tiredness set in. "why did you call me at three in the morning."

Now Gaster screeched into the phone, loud enough that Sans was almost afraid that Papyrus was going to wake up in the other room… And then he would inevitably wake up their grandfather, and then the entire house would be up, and he would never get back to sleep. He was right about to hang up until the screeching turned into words again, "(GO OUTSIDE I WILL SHOW YOU. I WILL DIRECT YOU.)"

"i'm not going outside. it is way too early," Sans grumbled, almost inaudibly compared to his cousin's shouting.

"(OKAY FINE YOU CAN DO IT INDOORS IF YOU'RE REALLY QUIET ABOUT IT.)"

Quiet was something that Sans did better than anyone else in their family, and surely by now Gaster understood that much. "okay, what exactly is it that I'm doing..?" He yawned.

"(I DISCOVERED A NEW ATTACK!)" Evidently the excitement was too much to contain any longer. "(I! DISCOVERED! A NEW! SKELETON MONSTER ATTACK!)"

"you what."

"(TRY IT TRY IT TRY THE ATTACK.)"

"what attack what are you talking about."

"(SANS SANS TRY THE ATTACK!)"

Well… At least his excited side was better than his creepy science side. Although both of them kept Sans up at night, as it turned out. And he had no idea what the hell he was going on about now. It seemed like any moment the babbling was going to turn back into screeching, if he wasn't careful. So before that could happen, Sans started to talk just a little bit louder, "okay ding-dong i'm going to do this for you, but you have to do something for me first."

"(EH?)" Sans sighed and covered his face with one hand. It was too early for this. "(EH? EH? WHAT?)"

"i need you to take a deep breath and hang up."

"(BUT IF I HANG UP I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW TO DO THE ATTACK?)"

"yeah can we do this later?"

"(NOOOO PLEASE?)"

"or can you send me a picture or something?"

"(AW.)"

"too tired."

"(AW SANS.)"

"sorry buddy."

"(IT'S A BIG CANNON.)"

Now that gave him pause. "what."

Technically speaking, almost every attack the skeleton could do was related to bones. Not even a variation of bones either. It was always the same kind of bone, just bigger or longer or smaller. Throwing them, sending them along the ground, sending them along the air, things like that– all the different attacks related to that weren't terribly creative. Papyrus, as he recalled, was trying to spell something out with his but hadn't gotten any farther than a solitary "P".

The only hope for more variety was to dabble in other kinds of magic. Both Sans and Papyrus, for example, had a propensity for blue magic, albeit of two different shades.

Gaster liked to call them "the Blues Brothers" as a joke. Sans' accent didn't help.

But regardless, none of that magic was anything close to a cannon. "you mean a cannon, cannon?"

"(IT'S A BIG MAGIC CANNON!)" Now that his cousin was also showing interest, Gaster began to speak even faster. "(I KNEW I WAS ON TO SOMETHING, I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR WEEKS! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN ME IN THE TRAINING ROOM AN HOUR AGO, I DECIMATED THE DUMMY, IT WAS LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN!)"

"holy crap." Sans was already getting out of bed and looking for his clothes. "you stay there okay? i'm coming over."

"(I THOUGHT IT WAS TOO EARLY?)"

"yeah well make some coffee for me. i wanna make a cannon too."

If possible, he thought that he heard Gaster smiling on the other end of the line. "(OKAY!)"

"hey this is a completely new attack, right? doesn't even have a name?" Sans was already trying to picture it as he put his lab coat on, searching for his shoes. Oh well, it was the middle of the night. He would put on slippers, nobody was going to mind. "right?"

"(IF YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT NAMING IT AFTER YOURSELF YOU'RE TOO LATE.)"

He snorted indignantly, "i was not– what," before suppressing a laugh and covering his face for one second. "oh my god. you did not."

"(I'M CALLING THEM GASTER BLASTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE AWESOME LIKE ME AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME.)"

"ding-dong no."

"(TOO LATE I'M DOING THE PAPERWORK.)"

"well jeezus now I have to come over there just to knock some sense into you."

"(I'M DOING THE PAPERWORK THEY'RE CALLED GASTER BLASTERS.)"

Hanging up, if only for a second, Sans only chuckled some more before he disappeared from the house, none of his other family members any wiser to his absence for now. The next place the he appeared was the lab in Hotland, where he would discover to his horror that he was actually too late, and the new cannon attack that was discovered for skeleton monsters were indeed now called Gaster Blasters.

Oh well. They turned out to be so powerful that it was unlikely Sans, or anyone else, would have to use them or even explain what they were.

* * *

Without any answers, Frisk woke up from her dream.

It was a silly dream.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I keep having ideas for ASL aftermath stuff, but at the same time I also wanted to show my own version of Dr. Gaster in this series (although he probably won't show up in the present that much.) So that's all this is.

Turns out that I see him as an energetic, over-excitable and egotistical dork along the same lines of Papyrus. 0 0 The fact that he also speaks in all caps is the only reason I can give for this. None of the human children who met him found him nearly as endearing, though.


	12. Moral Support (ASL Verse)

**Title:** ASL Aftermath: Moral Support

 **Feat:** Asgore, Frisk, Dr. Gaster, Sans, Papyrus

 **Rating:** K

 **Word Count:** 4,196

* * *

Some time has passed, and I wake up from what I can only assume was a few minutes of sleep. The day passes slowly.

Sometime after lunch I'm once again visited by King Asgore, who persists in misunderstanding how a jail is supposed to work by asking me if I wanted to come up again today. Although it feels almost silly to imprison yourself if your own jailer isn't going to do it right, so I'll agree to come up. I'm tired, so I don't have the will to ask what he has planned this time.

After all, he has been pulling me out of the basement a lot since my return, and most of them are pretty flimsy reasons. Such as to help him water the plants or have a cup of tea, although on one of these occasions, he asked me to help him attempt to make a butterscotch-cinnamon pie, which was not successful between the two of us. All of them are things which I don't know if I am bothered by or not.

It's clear what he's trying to do, and while I appreciate the effort, I... don't think he entirely understands what he's doing. He has only ever known one side of me, and the other side he's only experienced through hearsay. Nothing I say can dissuade him, however. That's how it's always been; even when he himself did unforgivable acts, he didn't change in that respect. It's remarkable.

Although his majesty is also tricky, in his way. I realize immediately what his reason is this time, when I come to the first floor. He didn't tell me he has company.

Oh god, it's no wonder he didn't. I should have known this was coming, that he was going to attempt something like this. Although he says that they are here "to visit me," so it must be more of that human's doing. That human's far too presumptuous for their own good; I know it has to be their idea, those two would not come here of their own will, at least not Su- Sans at any rate. He has to only be here for his brother's sake.

Yes, much too presumptuous. Although Asgore himself could have given me some kind of warning so I could decline his offer instead of being caught up here like a rat in a trap-

* * *

"HI GASTER! YOU LOOK DIFFERENT WHEN YOU'RE NOT WEARING YOUR COAT," Papyrus said first, cutting the awkward silence off at the roots.

It didn't help much that Dr. Gaster was having a harder time replying to even that. "..." As some kind of noise came out of him, Frisk made sure to turn on the Wingding Translator App, which caught him as he finally uttered, " _You're still wearing that... costume._ "

"OH- MY BATTLE BODY! YES! I HAVE TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED!" Papyrus said, rapping a fist on his so-called armor as if to illustrate his point.

Nobody was looking down at anyone's shoes, so no one noticed that Sans had actually put on sneakers today. They were untied, but Frisk had clapped anyway when she saw them. Now that they were actually here, he wasn't venturing to point out the slight change in outfit. Standing beside Frisk, she could feel a sort of energy coming off of him and it was unnerving, when he was normally so chilled out.

Well she hadn't a change in clothes to share, unless anyone was going to care that she wore white under her sweater today, but she did have something to venture while Dr. Gaster only said, " _Uh, that's nice_."

She cut in, stepping forward, "Oh, I want to show you-" Frisk then pulled her lips apart, looking as at ease as always to a casual observer. "I got a new tooth! The dentist said that it's ten times stronger than my old one." And to somehow demonstrate that point, she licked her tooth with her tongue.

The unspoken words in that sentence were, _To replace the one you knocked out._ Rigid, Dr. Gaster nodded with a small bob of his head. " _That's. ...Nice,_ " he repeated.

"cat got your tongue, wing-dingus?" Sans said, and frowning Frisk nudged him- to which he carelessly nudged her back.

Despite her concern, the jab seemed to give Dr. Gaster something to hold onto instead, whether Sans meant it that way or not. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, one hand smoothing back the tape with which they were affixed to his skull. " _I was not expecting your visit_."

"I wasn't either." Nearly everyone glanced to the side of the room, as if they had all forgotten Asgore was here until he spoke up. "Although I'm happy for the visit! Actually," he inclined his great head in Frisk's direction. "I did want to speak with you over some political matters, Frisk, if you don't mind."

Dr. Gaster blinked. " _Oh, that's right._ " He stared at Frisk, who stared back. " _You are apparently more important than you led me to believe._ "

"Huh?" The child's smile halted before she looked back at Asgore, understanding. "Oh, not really. I just have a cool job. I don't get paid or anything, though."

Dr. Gaster inclined his head. " _You don't_?"

"Nope- oh," she cut herself off as Asgore cleared his throat. "I'll tell you about it in a minute."

"WAIT, YOU'RE LEAVING?"

She felt a small pang as Papyrus half-approached her, then stopped himself. Sans, whom she guessed would be irritated with her for a while longer, wasn't looking and was instead slowly eating a ketchup packet. Frisk bunched the edges of her sleeves over her hands. "I'll just be a minute. I'll be right in the other room."

"UH, WELL, OKAY! BE GOOD FOR HIS MAJESTY!"

"I will." The child nodded over at Dr. Gaster, too, who was glaring at the seemingly oblivious Asgore. "See you."

"— _Yes_."

It was just in the other room, but Frisk didn't know if she was really going to be right back to see the skeletons all talk to each other. There was a still-hot pot of golden flower tea sitting on the stove, and Asgore gestured to the child to sit as he poured it into two large round cups.

From where they left them, Dr. Gaster had started speaking again and was being spoken to. The phone no longer picked up what he said, though, making it impossible for her to know if he was trying to make conversation or making death threats or just choking out "that's nice" over and over. She frowned and closed her phone for now.

Asgore set the cup of tea in front of her, sitting down on the opposite side of the table. "The walls are too thick in this castle."

"You didn't actually need to talk to me about anything, did you?" Frisk asked, twisting around in her seat. Right now she could understand only Papyrus and some snatches of Sans' naturally low voice. Asgore, while he sipped his tea, also had ears that twitched like they were listening.

But his words drew her back around, softer so as not to be heard, "No, no, I do, but... er. I confess, I can't help but be a bit worried. This is the first time they've been alone together since he came back, isn't that right?"

Frisk poked, and then took a sip of, her tea. "Yeah, it's true. The last time was when we were in Mt. Ebott. I hope they're doing okay."

Gaster, for his part, was from the moment that they left silently cursing the king for all of this. Sans and Papyrus were watching his movements. Sans seemed to be enjoying his discomfort, his smirk faint but nonetheless directed at him. It was rather like being stalked by two dogs, although as soon as that thought showed up in his head he threw it away.

He wanted to ask them things.

He also didn't want to ask them things.

He wanted to say something.

But he didn't say anything.

Papyrus was the one who ventured further. "OH! SO- YOU LIVE IN THE BASEMENT NOW?"

At that, he nodded. And when nodding didn't seem enough, he said, "Yes. Until further notice." Both of them clearly understood him, so he didn't sign it. "It's an arrangement I have with His Majesty."

"SO ARE YOU WORKING WITH KING ASGORE, THEN?"

"Not exactly..."

"WELL," Papyrus tilted his head and tapped his jaw in thought, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE ROOMMATES, IT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO ME, ESPECIALLY SINCE I DON'T THINK THE BASEMENT IS VERY WELL FURNISHED AND IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO EARN MONEY THROUGH A STABLE POSITION (UNLIKE SANS WHO HAS LIKE TWENTY WEIRD JOBS.) AND AFTER ALL, IF YOU WERE THE ROYAL SCIENTIST BEFORE IT'D BE EASY TO-"

It was babbling. Nervous babbling. "Papy-"

"OH!" His eyes bugged for a moment and then he scratched the back of his head, "I FORGOT ALPHYS IS ALREADY IN THAT POSITION! WAIT, CAN THERE BE TWO ROYAL SCIENTISTS?"

"I'm not going to be the royal scientist anymore."

That startled the other skeleton. "HEH-NYEH? WHY NOT? WELLL... I CAN SEE WHY NOT? BUT I'M SURE THAT THERE'S OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO! BECAUSE ALSO I WOULDN'T THINK THE BASEMENT OF THE CASTLE IS THAT COMFORTABLE..."

Oh god. "Papyrus, I don-"

"IF YOU WANT, I CAN HELP YOU PICK OUT THINGS! I'M VERY GOOD AT INTERIOR DESIGN! I HELPED SANS WHEN WE MOVED INTO THAT HOUSE IN SNOWDIN."

Oh god, oh god. "That's not necessary."

Even as Gaster was emphatically saying as much, Papyrus wouldn't stop, his voice only cracking once while he continued, "I DON'T KNOW, KING ASGORE ISN'T THE BEST AT IT... NO OFFENSE TO HIM, OF COURSE! HE'S VERY NICE! BUT THIS PLACE IS KIND OF GREY AND DEPRESSING," and a quick look around was enough to illustrate that, with everything so monochrome in the room, flowers aside. Papyrus shrugged, "IN FACT IF IT WAS DARKER IT WOULD LOOK KIND OF LIKE BACK IN THE LAB, SO SERIOUSLY IF YOU NEED ANY HEL-"

" _Be quiet 2-P._ "

* * *

I didn't mean to say it; I wasn't even trying, wasn't thinking.

It used to be that he never interrupted me, was never this insane level of talkative- except on the days where he was trying his hardest to reason with me while I was working. All of that inane chatter coming out of Papyrus right now brought it back, and I wasn't thinking. Yet somehow, deep down, I also knew that if anything would make him _stop_ talking, it was that.

So I must have been thinking, at least a little. I can say to myself that I didn't mean to call him that, even when I did it on purpose.

But this hurts a lot more than I remember it doing. Especially to see the effect in front of me.

I can't hide, I can't distract myself from it.

It's pathetic. Even after all this time I can't help but wish that those two wouldn't look at me this way. If I had chosen another path, just once, they wouldn't- and we wouldn't even be here right now. One different choice, that's all it would have taken for them to look at me without that fear or hesitation they show now. And _I_ would be changed, too, I'm sure. Between the three of us, then, no one would ever know what I was capable of, that I was willing and able to hurt other people to serve my own goals. It'd be a blissful ignorance for me.

But, in a way, that's also wrong.

In a way, this look they are giving me is also better. No, not better, perhaps. Easier, certainly. Because, with this, I think I've hit my limit of how low I can sink today.

* * *

As the silence became prolonged, so that Asgore's voice should have been carrying over from the other room while he was talking to Frisk, neither Sans nor Papyrus moved. Papyrus especially, predictably, was frozen in place, like he might burst into tears or lose control if he made a move to acknowledge the old "name" of his, suspended before his face. Sans looked more like he did in the Inner Core- or in their first meeting in the void, as Gaster recalled- those times before he started attacking him. He was motionless for his brother's sake more than anything.

But over the seconds, Gaster went through a few changes. His own shock at the words he had said faded, his gaze turning inward instead. Unable to keep himself from trembling, however easily it could have been overlooked to the observer, he squared his shoulders and turned his gaze back outwards. At Sans and Papyrus. It might be that no one was talking even now because no one was breathing; Gaster was the first to exhale.

And he spoke, again without signing, "Well. I think we've established why this won't work."

It wasn't serious, but it wasn't a joke either. Papyrus was next to start thawing at the words, with Sans following with a look towards his brother. Definitely, neither of them were even pretending to smile now. Well, Sans was, but he also wasn't.

But, even unfrozen, they still didn't reply. Gaster was only one with even a vague idea what to say, and perhaps it was that the two recognized that. Or, maybe they were both still struggling to move past the memories he dredged up. He wished he could stop. That they would stop.

It wasn't going to happen. "What you're both feeling right now won't go away," he continued. "No matter how much I- or you," he glanced quickly at Papyrus, who trembled. "-Might want it to."

They knew this better than anyone else involved. They knew better than Asgore, better than Toriel, better than Alphys, and better than the human what kind of person he could be. So after seeing that, how could he possibly expect them to see him as anything else? They'd panic if he so much as picked up a power tool. Gaster found himself gripping his arms, not looking at them with his one good eye. "Since small talk won't make that any less true, let me say this much. I am n-." Breathe. "Never going to hurt either of you again.

"My experiments with you two were... mistakes, I've realized that now." Breathe. "And despite Asgore and that human's effort, I have no intention of interfering in the lives you have currently, either. So in the future... I think it would be easier for the both of you to ignore that I exist. Since," he couldn't help but add, "Unfortunately, I _do_ again."

Sans for the moment looked at a loss for words, although surely if he had any he would have said "sounds good to me." But tugging mindlessly on the edge his glove, Papyrus suddenly burst out, "BUT! I DON'T WANT TO JUST IGNORE THAT YOU EXIST! I JUST WANT TO GET PAST- WHATEVER THIS IS!" He shuddered, but only once, when he looked at his hands. "AND I ALREADY FORGAVE YOU! BECAUSE WE'RE FRIENDS NOW, AREN'T WE?"

Gaster sighed, "You don't want me for a friend. The only reason you 'forgave' me is because you've overlooked everything that's happened."

"NO! THE REASON I FORGAVE YOU IS BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" Papyrus cut in, and Gaster again froze. "I DIDN'T OVERLOOK ANYTHING, I SWEAR!"

He took a deep breath, and then kept going, "I SAW YOU HESITATE ALL THOSE MOMENTS WHEN YOU DIDN'T WANT TO HURT US, LIKE WHEN YOU PUT OUR PLATES ON AND I SAW YOU FLINCH A BUNCH OF TIMES! AND I SAW ALL THOSE DAYS WHEN YOU DIDN'T TAKE US AWAY OR DO ANYTHING TO US! I REMEMBER WHEN YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU BLINDED SANS BY MISTAKE, AND YOU WERE CAREFUL NOT TO BLIND ME TOO! I HEARD YOU PROMISE TO GIVE ME THE COLOR CUBE WHEN I WAS UPSET-"

Again with the color cube; once more, Gaster had started to tremble.

"I EVEN REMEMBER WHEN YOU HELPED ME GET MY ARM BACK ON, AND FRISK TOLD ME HOW YOU DIDN'T KILL THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE OUR FRIEND! AND I REMEMBER HOW YOU ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT YOU WERE DOING THOSE TERRIBLE THINGS BECAUSE PEOPLE NEEDED YOU TO!" Triumphantly, although a little less so when he gazed back at Gaster again, Papyrus finished just a little bit quieter, "YOU SEE? I DIDN'T OVERLOOK ANYTHING! NYEH-heh. ...Th-THERE IS A LOT MORE, TOO, IF YOU WANT ME TO KEEP GOING."

He didn't move, except for the shaking. "No. Stop."

So Papyrus stopped, clenching his hands into nervous fists. Sans beside him kept making small darting glances towards his brother; when Gaster made eye contact with him, as if demanding that he do something to put some sense in this idiot's head, he grinned bitterly at his creator. "yeah, uh, i can see how i'd be your best bet, but you're outta luck. i'm just here for moral support."

Papyrus smiled at Sans and then at Gaster; Gaster, in turn, shrank back and shook his head. "I... don't..."

The smile faded a little, but all the same this other skeleton extended his hand. "I-IT'S ALRIGHT IF YOU'RE NOT REALLY GOOD AT IT- AFTER ALL, I'M AN EXCELLENT BEST FRIEND! I CAN TEACH YOU HOW TO STOP DOING THE CREEPY SCIENTIST THING!"

"That's not- you're not-" Gaster cut himself off with a sigh, and despite the expectation on Papyrus' face he just stared at that hand.

But Sans piped up again, and he flinched, "you might as well take it, bud, he's not gonna give up."

Finally, at the very end he did take it. Papyrus was completely ecstatic, once more, even at something so simple as a handshake.

"No, I suppose not. You two don't ever change."

* * *

"What do you think he just said?" Asgore asked in a voice so quiet that Frisk had to strain to hear, when Gaster's outburst was followed by stillness.

Sans and Papyrus weren't talking anymore, that was for certain. "Something bad," she whispered back.

Across from her, she heard the king sigh heavily. "I think you're right."

Frisk drooped her head down and let the steam of her tea warm her cold face. This was not going very well. She hadn't really expected it to, but she at least wanted to be able to understand where it went wrong. For next time, if nothing else. She looked over at Asgore, who was tapping his furry fingers on the table silently.

She picked at her cup and took a gulp. Some seconds passed, in which there was still silence from the other room. Some more passed that felt more like hours, and then they heard Gaster's wingding speech and nothing else. It didn't sound very good either, and there were a lot of pauses in-between sentences. Frisk tapped her fingers together and took another gulp of the tea. She almost choked when, off guard this time, it nearly burned her tongue.

By the time the child was done quietly _ghhhing_ her throat, her narrow eyes aimed towards the boss monster in front of her. "You've been really nice."

"I, uh, thank you."

She shook her head, "I was kind of thinking you would be as mad as Toriel, as mom was. Like, really mad." Another _ghh_ to clear her throat. "But you've just been really nice. Even though... um, and I think it's... helped... a little..." Her words trailed, and she finished only faintly, "Um, so, thanks back."

But as she finished Asgore shook his head, and right then he seemed very exhausted, seemed older. "It's not completely well-meaning. In part, I think I give him so much slack because I am tired. I... I _could_ be enraged that he lied to me, over and over, and made all of us worry. That he experimented on two very nice monsters right under my nose. That he did questionable things while he was gone from existence.

"But even if I were to try that kind of rage just doesn't... come easily to me anymore." He shook his head, as if mocking himself. "I'd rather go back to the way things were, as much as possible."

The human in front of him didn't reply.

He used a moment's thought in the silence and then he said, taking up his cup, "But more than that, I've known Dr. Gaster for a very long time. Although I know he has done something unforgivable for Sans and Papyrus, he has done many good things for other monsters as well. Many hard, hard things." He looked uncomfortable as he spoke, but continued, "I believe that deep down my friend has been, and is still, a good person... Even if he does not believe it anymore. And I know that no good will come of forgetting that."

"Tor- mom is still really mad at him, though." Frisk mumbled into the table.

When she looked up again, she saw the king smile gently at her while he sipped his tea, "If she no longer wants him gone for good, then she must already agree with me. Even if she is not as quick to forgive him personally. But after all, when hurting children are involved, that's the kind of woman she is."

"She's not like that at home." Indeed, with her Toriel was very patient. The only reason Frisk could imagine her otherwise was because she witnessed it in person some precious few times.

"No," Asgore laughed, "I imagine not."

"I wish everyone could just be friends. I wish Sans and Papyrus would go back to the way they were, too."

As Frisk rested her head on the table, Asgore kindly did the same. "I fear that that is a tall order, child. You can't change someone's feelings with willpower."

"...But I _want_ to."

In the next moment, she felt his large and warm paw running over her head, smoothing her hair. The gesture was almost too much, and she blinked heavily. "You sound much like my child did whenever they got upset." When Frisk stiffened at that, he added, "I'm sure that things will get better for them. It just means having patience, and perhaps some persistence. I think you of all people would be good at that."

The girl didn't reply, except to sigh and close her eyes.

They easily heard Papyrus shouting in the other room. Both Asgore and Frisk sat at attention then, sitting up in their chairs to listen. It was in wingding, too. Maybe none of them wanted the two to listen in anymore, which was extremely disappointing.

But it didn't sound like an argument, at least. The shouting was Papyrus' normal level of volume, and after a while there came talking from the other two as well, all at normal volumes. So it was a discussion, even though they couldn't hear what was being said.

And, at least, when Frisk and Asgore risked coming back in, pretending as though they had been talking about something important and unrelated, none of them had killed each other.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I didn't include a lot of Gaster's interactions with Sans and Papyrus in the fic proper (as someone pointed out in a review.) While I did want to explore their relationship in more depth, I'll be honest in saying that it's really hard to write this kind of thing, as you can probably tell by reading it 0 0. I STILL TRIED THOUGH IDK. ;w;

That aside there's a lot of other dialogue in this that I've had written down for a while, but I had no idea what to put it in. Glad it finally got some use!

I also wanted to say that I've decided to put these aftermath shorts (some parts revised) in their own one-shot series on Archive of Our Own, which will include other Handplates stuff too eventually, so feel free to check that out!


	13. Gradually (ASL Verse)

**Title:** ASL Aftermath: Gradually

 **Rating:** K

 **Feat:** Frisk, Flowey, Monster Kid, Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Asgore, Gaster, Toriel

 **Word Count:** 3,906

* * *

It was always windy around Mt. Ebott, and in fact it was sometimes pretty windy within Mt. Ebott as well- Frisk didn't know where that wind came from, but it was welcome all the same. Near the top of the mountain it got a little chilly, but since she was always wearing a sweater she didn't mind. The real problem was her backpack, stuffed with board games, which kept sliding from side to side on her back as she trekked up the mountain.

It eventually settled once she reached the right ledge, able to stand up straight and readjust the straps on her shoulders. Without it threatening to drag her off, or fall over her face, or smack her cheek, Frisk could see her surroundings clearly. Her eyes darted over the grassy space where the barrier used to be, searching for a little troublemaking flower.

Typically the ledge was the riskiest place for them to meet, or at least risky for Frisk. There wasn't any point where it was easy to SAVE, so if Flowey was not in a mood to be disturbed or was just feeling especially sadistic, there was a chance Frisk could lose a lot of progress by visiting.

If Flowey was deeper in the mountain, or acting docile, she at least had a chance to dip behind the Barrier site and protect her progress with a SAVE point that way. Frisk never made a set time for when she would arrive, to increase the chances that he wouldn't be there to meet her.

When she reached the ledge today, she didn't know if it was a docile day or not. This time, regardless, she found Flowey waiting for her and she was at once on edge. The flower was in the middle of the grassy ledge, surrounded by smaller stalks and wearing his usual disarming expression that turned cruel once they made eye contact. Taking a deep breath, Frisk gripped the strap of her backpack with pale fingers and waved. "Hey, Flowey."

"So you made it," Flowey said back, roots wriggling under the dirt. "I hope you brought something for me."

No attacking yet, despite the grouchy edge to his voice; Frisk was encouraged. "Yes, I did." She knelt, unzipping the backpack, and drew out battered rectangular boxes, most of them full of paper money, cardboard cards, and metal game pieces. "These are the games I told you about last time. We have Sorry!, which I think we might need one more person to play..."

"We can always have _Alice_ play with us."

"There's also Monopoly, and Guess Who, and Battleship..." Frisk continued, ignoring the bitter remark. She looked up, after laying each game side by side before the little flower. "Which one do you want to play first?"

Flowey hissed and retracted his roots from where they had spread under the earth, bursting only one of the winding things through the dirt in front of the games. He scowled and waved a root over each box, disgusted by Frisk's placid smile as he did. "... I'm feeling prehensile. Let's play Monopoly."

That sounded good to her, although it was going to take the longest. She pulled the board out of the box. Flowey, in turn, pulled back his root and watched her work. It wasn't that he couldn't help, but he probably was hoping to see the wind blow her cards away. "Boy," Frisk said as she sorted through the money, "There's a lot more flowers around here than there were last year."

In fact, this part of the mountain has almost always been bare of flowers. They were new, too, all of them buds. Frisk hesitated in setting up to investigate them with curious poking fingers.

"Huh?" Flowey bobbed left. "Oh, I've been firing bullets at birds who land up here. Sometimes I miss and they get buried in the dirt."

Frisk set the money down and yelped when the wind tried to carry it off- she used the dog for a paperweight. "Huh? These grew from your bullets?"

"You do realize they're not literally bullets, right?" Flowey raised up a root and edged a white bullet from under his petals, usually levitated and shot at high speeds. Frisk gripped Mr. Monopoly hard in her hands, enough that it hurt, but didn't speak. Rolling his eyes, the flower lobbed the bullet down before her.

The child carefully took the little white oval into her hands, and her eyes widened. "Oh, it's a seed!"

"No duh."

And then, setting the seed down carefully on the grass, a realization struck her. "Wait, you mean these flowers are all from seeds _you_ planted?"

Flowey was not as similarly struck. "Uh, yes? I'm a flower. Did you miss that?"

"You have pollinated seeds!"

"What."

Monopoly forgotten for the moment, and not yet noticing when she scattered the chance cards all over with her feet, Frisk crawled to the nearest bud. _Flowey's_ bud. She needed a second; so badly did she wanted to see it unfurl, so badly did she want to see it greet the sun. To see them all greet the sun together.

Her voice was a breathless whisper, "I can't believe this. You actually reproduced!"

"...You're getting way too excited over this, Frisk," the flower said as he surveyed his own growing offspring.

She poked a curled petal, wide-eyed while she watched them tremble in the mountain air. Gradually her voice gained its normal volume, "But Flowey, this is amazing! You're actually creating life, you're contributing to the mountain's ecosystem!" Her vocabulary was a score one for biology class. "Don't you think that's fantastic?"

If it was possible to, Flowey would have shrugged. " _Please_ , this has happened almost every year. I just uproot them when they finish growing. ...I make a little game out of it, actually."

" _What?_ " Frisk started back on her feet with a yelp, "But that's terrible! You're like their mom!"

" _Oh my god_ , I am not their mom."

"Well. Dad, then." As Flowey bristled as her, she sputtered and kept an eye out for roots or bullets with her name on them. Things were getting better when it came to how often she died during her visits, but Flowey was easily irritated. "They're your kids all the same."

No roots were tangling her feet yet, but the flower gave an aggravated sigh, "Frisk, they are not kids. They're dumb, brainless, DETERMINATION-less flowers. I barely even do anything to make them! They just grow out of the stuff that I _shoot at things_ with."

Lots of human children were conceived with just as much carelessness and just as little concentration.

Even so Frisk was forced to admit that Flowey had a point. Still, these flowers that were just barely starting to bloom looked so cute—like little egg yolks, curled up into ovals and colored a sticky, pale yellow. They would probably smell sweet, when they finally opened. "Well, can you at least give me these ones?"

He snorted, "Ew, no. I'm not giving you my own kids."

" _Flowey_."

But he remained obstinate, scowling at her with his fangs out. "You're getting creepy about this. Just forget it, they're not that big a deal."

Mouth pulled tight, Frisk clasped her hands together. "Pleeease? It can be my belated birthday present."

"I was never going to give you a birthday present."

"I'll be your best friend!"

"You already are my—I said forget it!"

"I won't ask for anything else, pleeeease?"

And finally, Flowey had looked at Frisk's big pleading eyes (bigger than they usually were, at any rate) and grunted. "Mrn fine. If it will _shut you up_."

It didn't. But the board games were at least amusing.

* * *

"Wasn't it _your_ birthday recently?" Leo had asked, looking at the little pail that Frisk held out to him, one filled with dirt and a flower that was just barely blooming.

The girl shrugged, continuing to hold out her gift despite her arm starting to get tired. "Yeah, but this isn't related to that. I just wanted to give it to you!"

"Oh! Well it looks really pretty!" Leo whistled at the flower, before he drooped. "I didn't get you anything though... uh, um, sorry..."

No, no, no, he couldn't get upset. The whole point of this gift to him was to avoid that. Because he had been sad far too often lately, and deep down Frisk was certain that some of that was her own fault. So she didn't want him upset over something silly like this. Hoping that he might take it and be unable to talk, Frisk held the pail more firmly out to the monster child. "Oh, Leo, that's okay, I wanted to give this to you! I want you to be happy. So if you are, that's something you gave me right there, don't you think?"

At that, he seemed to perk up a little. Not too much, but it was something. "Heheh... If you insist. Gosh you're cool, Frisk," he said, his words becoming muffled as he gripped the handle of the pail in his powerful teeth. The weight didn't seem much of a problem for him, the child only bending under it a little before shooting back upright. The flower bobbed in place and reminded Frisk of how Flowey did his little dance. "Where'd you get them?"

"That's the best part!" She bounced on her feet, "I got them from a magic evil flower. Isn't that cool?"

She could practically see Leo's formerly melancholy eyes turn to stars. "R-really?!" He said, half-mumbling out of the corners of his mouth. The flower danced again. "Are you serious!?"

"Yeah!"

Leo jumped up and down, spilling dirt on the sidewalk. "Yoooo!" He said, or tried to say. It came out rather muffled.

But Frisk picked up the slack. "Yoooo!"

Laughing, Leo rocked the pail back until it was steady, watching the gold flower with shining eyes. "I bet this's magic too, huh?"

Frisk grinned wide; she hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, it might be!"

"I wonder what kind..."

"You should find out." As much as she would have loved to do that with him, Frisk spoke and pulled her wagon of flowers closer to her feet. "Although I gotta go now. I've got to get these magic flowers to people who need them."

Leo's tail wagged behind him and he nodded, starting off towards his house. "Gosh, okay. See ya, Frisk!"

Frisk waved at Leo until he was no longer looking and pulled her presents along. She had quite a bit of walking to do today, as she reflected. Luckily she didn't have far to go for the next recipients; the skeleton brothers' house was just a block up the street.

Sans and Papyrus also had positive reactions to the flowers—she put both their buttercups in the same large flowerpot, one that was meant to hang close by from a fixture. She painted "My Best Friends" on the base. She was half tempted, though, to tell them not to let Undyne see the base whenever she visited.

With groggy eyes Sans examined their present from the couch, while Papyrus looked the pot over for cracks with the hugest smile on his face. "how come they're both in one thing?"

Frisk tapped her index fingers together and said, "uh- Well that way Papyrus can take care of both of yours easier."

"wow," Sans sniggered, "you have no faith in me do you?"

Papyrus hung the pot from the stair railing. "SANS! IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS! BESIDES," he added as he dashed into the kitchen, seeking out water, "NOW THIS WAY MY PLANT AND YOUR PLANT WILL NEVER GET LONELY!"

As Sans grinned at that Frisk nodded and smiled across from him; besides, though, he couldn't even take care of a pet rock. It was looking empty of sprinkles today. (She half wondered if it actually ate them itself, or if Sans ate them off the rock while Papyrus wasn't looking. She and the rock had never spoken before.)

She forgot it in the next second, plopping down on the couch next to the skeleton. The two buttercups waved at them while Papyrus watered the pot from just above, standing on the tallest step with a cold teapot in his hands. "How are you guys?"

"not bad. got nothin' special to do today," Sans said in a sleepy slur, threatening to fall asleep again. "it's great."

"SANS CLEANED SOME OF HIS ROOM TODAY!" Papyrus said. "I WAS VERY PROUD."

As Frisk sat up straight, she heard, "yeah, don't get too excited though. in a couple days no one will be able to tell."

She heard disappointed tongue-clicking from a being that didn't have a tongue. "THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE TO CLEAN SOME OF IT TOMORROW, TOO!"

Sans took a second to think about this, holding hands loosely on his stomach. Finally he uttered, "mmm... nnnnah. hey, kid," before Papyrus could say more the smaller skeleton shifted, tugging on Frisk's sleeve. "we got a new tv yesterday. gonna watch some old stuff we got in the dump way back when; wanna inspect the visuals with us?"

Inspecting visuals was something that Frisk did best, with a near-constant squint. "Maybe later," she said though, scooting off the couch. "I have to get the rest of these flowers taken care of."

"'kay. see ya later, buddy," Sans said. He didn't sit up while Frisk left, but he did give a thumbs-up from where he was laying.

"BYE FRISK!" She heard Papyrus call after her, as well. "THANKS FOR THE THOUGHTFUL PRESENT!"

Once outside, she bent and picked up the handle of the wagon, flinching to find it had gotten hot in the afternoon sun. Taking a deep breath, and smiling faintly to herself, Frisk went rattling down the street with her bunch of buttercups.

* * *

Frisk had actually been a bit overeager to see Alphys get hers; she had spent a really long time studying the logo letters for Mew Mew Kissy Cutie to get the writing font right on the flowerpot. Being so stressed lately, it might just help to have something pretty and familiar in the house. She hoped Undyne liked hers, too, of course.

But now the child couldn't seem to get either to come to the door. She ringed the doorbell once every couple of minutes, and then with increasing frequency, but nobody came to answer it. She was left with these two pots sitting by her feet, unattended and unseen by the two people whose names were on them.

Frustrated, Frisk couldn't help but stamp one foot quietly, before it fell to tapping. She pressed the doorbell again and called, "Alphys? Undyne? Are you guys there?" But that didn't yield any results either, after three minutes that felt like forever. Frisk threw up her hands and turned from the door, sitting on the front step between the brilliantly colored flowerpots.

What on earth could they be doing? Were they watching something with the volume twice as loud?

This wasn't the first time that this happened; it was a semi-regular occurrence whenever she tried a surprise visit on the two. When they finally saw her, she would ask what they were doing and Undyne just said she'd "look back on these moments and say 'ohhhh.'"

Alphys said there was a "trope" for it called Fridge Brilliance.

Whatever. The plants would probably be fine until someone answered the door, and she was already getting hot just sitting here. Frisk pulled out a stubby pencil piece, tiny ribbon and notepad from her pockets. On both plants, she tied the note:

 _Buttercups for you! Don't eat them please, it's not the tasty kind of buttercup._

 _I hope you like them!_

And she left Alphys and Undyne to whatever it was that they were doing.

Her wagon had a distance to go yet, with four more pots and dancing flowers left inside.

* * *

"Oh, my!"

Asgore had been very pleased with his present, a shyly blooming buttercup inside a flowerpot that had "Best King and Gardener" written on the side in red paint. "This is very thoughtful of you, Frisk, thank you!" He gave it an appreciative sniff, the sweet scent the same as in his old throne room but packed into one flower. Frisk had grinned back, pleased at her own success with the wagon of remaining sprouts just outside.

Next to him Dr. Gaster was less enthusiastic, setting the pot labeled "World's Coolest Scientist" down on the nearest table. The clear and yet unintelligible sounds of his real voice echoed as English came out over the phone, " _I appreciate the thought, Frisk. But I'm not... much of a buttercup person._ "

She bounced on her feet, clasping her hands behind her back, "But it's not just a buttercup, it's Flowey's buttercup."

"... _Beg pardon?_ "

"Flowey has seeds, and these grew from them!"

Asgore perked up from admiring his bud, while his roommate-of-sorts stiffened. The king scratched his beard, "So you mean to say that Flowey is a parent? What a novel concept." He laughed, looking back to his own bloom, "I guess that makes this more of a _son_ flower, wouldn't you agree?"

 _You feel as if somewhere Sans is screaming._

After a beat, Dr. Gaster now regarded the flowerpot warily. He prodded at the occupant's stalk and petals with his detached magical hands, as if to maintain a certain distance. _"Oh. So it is potentially a_ murderous _buttercup you gave us?_ "

"Murderous or not, it's beautiful," Asgore said, elbowing him. Whether he thought his buttercup would start attacking him or not, he didn't make clear. "And I think you could use some life down there anyway, Gaster."

Frisk beamed.

 _"...Yes, well. As long as we're giving each other things, come with me_." Dropping his study of the plant for now, the other monster left the flowerpot behind and beckoned to the basement. " _I might as well give you this week's homework assignment_."

The beaming stopped; this was not as successful as she hoped. Frisk groaned and followed after Dr. Gaster, unable to keep from saying, "You're giving me vocab _now_?" The last sheet wasn't finished yet.

"You said," signed his floating hands, popping up in front of her face, "That you wanted to learn sign language. If it is too hard for your-" something, something, something, and then she caught, "-give up".

Steeling herself, Frisk catapulted after him.

And Asgore, shaking his head, took both potted plants over to the windowsill.

* * *

The last person to gift one to was Toriel, naturally. Technically, she was the same as Asgore in that two would be in her house—one for her, and one for Frisk. Toriel's was the best, in the girl's opinion, in a bright blue flowerpot with "Best Mom Ever" painted in pink.

"Wherever did you get such a lovely little plant, my child?" She had said, smelling it with a smile. "It's simply exquisite! Just like the ones that used to grow in the ruins."

Frisk had opened her mouth to reply to that, like she had with Gaster and Asgore, but something caught her tongue before the words popped out. Toriel caught on to things faster than Asgore. "They—a lot of them grow around Ebott village."

" _Oh_ , so they do." At that, her large eyes took on a more wistful expression, and she stroked a petal lovingly. "It's a very thoughtful present, Frisk. Thank you."

Thoughtful; no matter who it was, flowers were always "thoughtful" to them. The thing was, she had no idea what "thought" it was that she was giving them.

The flowerpot Frisk painted wasn't as important to the gift in the bigger scheme of things; her mother decided that it would be nicer to transplant the flower into the garden beside the house. That way it would have the best exposure to the nice weather and other plants to "keep it company," as she assured her child.

Frisk was tempted to let her own flower, one that lived in the only plain pot on the wagon, be transplanted beside it. Eventually, however, selfishness got the better of her and that plant went right up against her bedroom window. No one else named theirs to her recollection, but she called it "Hyperbeam" and put her toys in the dirt around it.

Luckily Hyperbeam didn't mind.

* * *

The buttercups of Mt. Ebott were already remarkable, but these ones were even more so- even if they weren't really magic.

Instead, what they were was strong and healthy, more than any other of their kind. Under their caregivers they bloomed year-round, a lifespan unheard of. Their petals were a rich yellow, like pictures of the sun, and on strong stalks they stood straight and tall. Some, of course, ended up taller and more obviously cared for than others, but they all smelled just as sweet.

Frisk told Flowey some of this on subsequent visits. But whenever she brought it up he seemed more annoyed than anything else, so she resigned to keep the news to herself for the rest of their time together. It was alright if it didn't seem to mean much to him. It still meant the world to her.

And gradually, the breezy Barrier ledge of Mt. Ebott was covered with golden flowers anyway.

Across them all, thankfully, none of them turned out to be murderous, not even after months of careful observation. In fact, they didn't talk or move or even have a face at all. The most that they were was toxic, which everyone knew well enough. They were ordinary enough physical plants.

At the same time, while none of the buttercups had the same "personality" as their father, Frisk liked to imagine that whenever she talked to Hyperbeam, it bent a little more in her direction. As if, even if it couldn't speak, it was listening.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The flower that Flowey was made from was presumably a normal buttercup, so I got to thinking about the possibility that his "friendliness pellets," which I always figured were really seeds, could be planted and sprout _other_ normal buttercups. So this fluffy thing came out of that with no thought to how realistic it might be. Who cares, now Flowey can join the Bad Dad Club!

Takes place in the same universe as my longer Handplates fic, ASL Tutorial, what with Dr. Gaster still being roomies with Asgore while he's under house arrest. (Takes place months later, so Frisk is 12 now.) But I imagine the premise is something that could happen in my other verses too, if those Frisks have the right relationship with Flowey.


	14. Today's Experiment (Handplates Verse)

**Title:** Today's Experiment

 **Rating:** K+

 **Feat:** Papyrus, Gaster, Sans, the Justice Human

 **Word Count:** 3,072

* * *

The child awoke in a dark place after a long fall, yet again.

The first time it happened, they hadn't been in a place like this. It was someplace nice, covered in flowers and gentle ruins, their opposition weak and easily cowed with intimidation. The first person to greet them in those ruins had been kind, even if in the end they were only wasting the child's time. Not long after leaving that place they couldn't help but feel some regret, because none of the other areas that they fell into since were as pleasant. None of the other people who greeted that child were nearly as kind. It was only by having their trusty tools at their disposal that they were able to make it through.

But the consistent effort that it took to get through took a toll on them. And now they were in these dark surroundings with nobody there to greet them, monster or man, and almost no space in which they could move. Just trying to get up, they banged their head against a low ceiling. Trying to go forward, they hit their face against cold metal bars. They could not stretch out their arms or legs, or see through the darkness. Several sticky things were on their stomach underneath their shirt, of a nature that they did not know- only aware that they were laying on top of wires. All of it was confusing, with no illumination of any kind. Still as the human came more awake, they didn't need light to know what was going on.

It was like a carrier box, one that they might've used to house their own dog back at home, which they were imprisoned in now. That was why there was very little room to move around. They were naturally quick to pick up on this and already exhausted, sighing and lying down against the cold floor of the carrier beneath them. They already knew there was no point trying to break out. Their weapon, their weapon was gone from their person, along with all the food they had been stockpiling in their pockets. And they were still weak, health low and hungry. Something in their midsection might've been broken.

They didn't care what happened next, so this time the child just went to sleep and hoped that it would bring a bit of that health back.

But when they were startled awake, by the sound of blasting and booming magic, it hadn't recovered that much.

Still, going back to sleep right now would be much harder. For one thing there was a lot more light, when their eyes opened again, then there was back when they woke up for the first time.

There was a lot more noise too. Once the blasting faded, the child could swear they heard talking. A lot of it, in a familiar voice, was a bunch of words that they couldn't understand, a bunch of words that they had _never_ understood. It fizzled and pulsed like so much noise, the only way they were able to distinguish it as speech was the deliberation by which that familiar voice made each word. Whatever it was, it gave the child a headache- although they already had one, for obvious reasons. Some of it, though, was in another voice that was not as familiar and yet, at the same time, more understandable.

Although the child couldn't catch most of what was being said, their ears clogged as though they were underwater.

 _Ssshzoowm!_

 _Sssshzoowm!_

The sound became louder, but they weren't scared.

Through the bars of their makeshift prison, some of the light poured in along with a view of the larger room beyond the carrier. There wasn't much to look at. It was a gray floor, a gray wall as far as they could see, and several scorch marks supposedly at random all around alongside bones that stuck out at odd angles.

Somebody was standing not too far from the carrier, with chalk white feet. The child didn't need to guess what it was- they already knew what it was. It didn't surprise them anymore. Maybe it was from the owner of those feet that this loud, almost intelligible voice was coming. "DON'T WANT TO DO THAT!"

The child blinked slowly at the white feet. With one small, sluggish hand they rooted under their own shirt for the wires they lay on top of. Too much effort was required to pull the sticky things off, and all that resulted in was the child laying on top of their own hand, dragging it back out... just as the carrier began to shift.

The tug on the carrier that pulled the carrier foreword wasn't just on the carrier, but also a tug that the child felt within themselves. The child struggled weakly and groaned with discomfort at the sensation, but regardless of what they did or tried to do they soon found themselves much closer to the white feet in the room. The completely unintelligible voice boomed on overhead, and the feet were so close, close enough that the child was sure that they could hear the figure if they would just speak again.

They knew that it wouldn't work, that it would accomplish nothing. But still, the child started to drag themself forward until their nose pushed against the bars of their prison, and they raised their voice to speak. What came out was soft and hoarse, the kid fighting to make themself heard over their own low health. All they wanted was to ask for help, ask the being if it could let him out. All they did was insist that they just wanted to go home, that they didn't want to hurt anyone.

"IS THERE SOMETHING ALIVE IN THERE?"

Evidently, their speech reached the figure somehow, even if only a little. They did not stop trying to make it reach more and more, even if ultimately the level of volume in their calls remained the same. The told the figure that they were trapped, they tried to ask him where they were, who the other person was, if they could have some food- all pointless things, words that spilled out in little whimpers until there was no more voice in the child's throat to speak with.

The shouting going on above the carrier drowned out the rest of it, anyway. The white feet moved in agitation, stamping, no longer facing the carrier, while the voice to which they belonged screamed at someone else. His words were muddied in a fog while the child groaned again, desiring to drink water but not expecting any at any time soon.

Each time that loud voice spoke, the unintelligible odd one rebuked him, all at the same level of volume. The child did not understand, but it gave up wasting energy to think about it a long time ago. The voice of the white feet simply was sparring with the voice of odd non-words.

Until eventually his arguing got to a feverish pitch while he screamed at that person, and while the child didn't care to pay attention to all these words they couldn't ignore them anymore, once so loud. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME, I'M NOT GOING TO KILL ANYTHING!"

The child disagreed. Anyone could be driven to kill, if it was necessary.

"I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT!"

So loud, so loud. His voice was getting so frantic and shrill- it could only end badly.

"I WON'T!"

The human tried to bury their face in the floor of the carrier, gritting their teeth.

"I WON'T... I'M... I...

"I..."

* * *

At first, when Subject 2 faltered, Dr. Gaster believed that he might be able to press him into completing the task after all.

In his grasp he could feel Subject 1's utter terror, his soul shaking as hard as the rest of him while the bone of his attack just barely scraped against the bone of his skull. Like this, if even a little of his magic were not under his control, he could turn the little skeleton to dust in an instant. He knew that, and so did his two subjects- keeping that in mind, it would be better for 1-S to stop shaking quite so hard like he was doing.

There was nothing else for 2-P to do. Gaster knew that there was no earthly way he would let his "brother" die; the concept seemed to frighten him more than anything else on this laboratory. In order to keep his brother from dying, he would need to destroy the carrier with his new attack, _regardless_ of his own squeamishness at taking an insignificant life. It was inevitable- so much so that even his breath was caught waiting for it, expecting it.

But...

2-P didn't move.

His eyesockets were squeezed shut against Sans' inevitable transition into dust, tears running down his face. His voice was utterly broken, but all Gaster could hear him say was, " _I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to do it... I'm not... going to do it..._ "

Gaster's chest seized up. The only sound in that testing room was whimpering, whimpering from every other living being from him.

Too much time passed with nothing happening, and he finally let out the breath he'd been holding. Gently, to prevent any unnecessary damage, he set 1-S back down on the ground, releasing the hold he had over his creation's SOUL. 1-S trembled in place, wrapping his arms around himself, and it looked as if he was about to collapse from the strain of his ordeal. 2-P cracked his eyes back open, and Gaster glimpsed immediate relief on his face to see his brother intact.

"It seems," he said, his voice flat, "that we now know how little you mean to your 'brother', Subject 1."

2-P began to tremble, as hard as 1-S was now. "I... I... DIDN'T WANT..."

"That's enough." With a wave of his hand and a solid grip on 2-P's SOUL, he carried him back onto the observation deck beside the other subject. "There will be no more testing today. Come with me, you will be returning to your rooms." So saying, he led both of them after himself with two magic hands, appearing as if summoned out of the air and immediately brushing them forward.

For once, 1-S did not have any snide commentary to give at the end of the test, nor did the brothers speak any words to each other on the way back to their cells. There was still a little bit of whimpering from behind, from one or the other, but he didn't turn back to check on them.

He didn't waste any time getting them back into confinement, shoving them quickly inside the dark little room that comprised of their cell at the end of a much too long and dark hallway. Right before he left, he was unable to avoid catching a terrified look from 2-P, the subject turning around where he stood. His eyesockets were as of yet still filled with tears, unimaginably wide for someone with such a narrow face. 1-S, on the other hand, did not turn around and only stared at the opposite wall, arms still wrapped around himself.

Gaster paid them no more attention and silently walked away down the hallway. He did not see as both skeletons crumpled up together by their miserable excuse for a bed, 2-P pressing his face into his knees to conceal his sobs.

Not that there was any reason to with the testing over, but he couldn't deal with them right now. He had a specimen to handle that was at the moment of higher priority. So he returned to the testing room where the carrier was still sitting, mentally calculating how long it might take to clean off all the scorch marks from 2-P's intensified magic attacks.

The carrier was making no more noise. Gaster took a deep, steadying breath when he entered deeper into the room, stepping into his repurposed firing range. Keeping his magic at the ready, he knelt down next to the barred box and listened, still hearing nothing. So then, deciding that for the moment there was no danger, he unlocked the carrier and summoned disembodied hands to take out its cargo.

The cargo being the human child.

The second to fall down into the Kingdom of Monsters, and the first to have the misfortune to almost literally fall right into his grasp.

Slowly, Gaster dragged the human out of the carrier- first by the hair, and then by the back of their shirt once it was within reach. The wires threaded through the back and attached to their chest didn't want to cooperate with first getting caught on something, and so it was only with a few hard yanks that he got that little body all the way out. The whole time, although they were gripped by glowing disembodied hands and in an unfamiliar, threatening environment, they didn't resist.

That didn't mean, however, that they weren't awake. Their eyes were open, albeit not all the way. They stared at Gaster with a weak, clouded gaze, more so as he rolled them off their stomach and detached the wires he'd taped to their chest- it wasn't necessary to keep track of their vitals anymore. The whole time the human specimen only made weak, cursory movements that spoke of a discomfort with being touched, but there wasn't any energy left for them to struggle.

Their eyes were the strongest, that cloudy look at getting clearer as time went on. The expression they made was easy to read and easy to expect, burning holes in him or at least trying to.

Since the experiment did not progress the way he had hoped, he would have to take up these measures by himself. With a physical hand he reached into the carrier and removed the prototype capsule he had rigged up, open as if expectant. All the while the specimen kept staring at him, not saying anything- probably not able to.

The look in its eyes at this moment was just the same as... That of the first human.

Dr. Gaster kept the capsule in place and took a step back, no longer seeing a point to sharing eye contact. Using his disembodied hands, he took the child by the neck and snapped it.

* * *

Sitting down at his desk later, beside him a capsule containing a bright human SOUL, Gaster typed up a new entry.

"Today's experiment was a mitigated success. I was successfully able to transplant a new, more powerful magical attack onto 2-P with no apparent side effects or immediate loss of impact, using the high-intensity magic emitters. Quantification of the strength of the attack will be a job for another day, however. 2-P was too resistant to using his blaster on this occasion. Perhaps I will have more success after attaching the emitters to 1-S.

"However," he continued, glancing towards the capsule. "I will need a new specimen with which to help appraise their blasting power. I could not risk leaving the human alive any longer. At the least, I have also had success with my capsule prototype. It has safely contained the SOUL of the specimen and left it at no risk of absorption. Tomorrow I will present it to his Majesty. I imagine I will need some form of cover story for how I acquired it, but I'm sure regardless he will be relieved to have not done the deed himself."

The constant typing paused for a moment, as he sighed briefly. "If it was up to me, he would not have to do any of it. But it's difficult to predict what the circumstances will be for the next humans to fall down." And then out loud, he said, "... _If_ any more humans fall down."

To the entry Gaster added, "Although I wish to dispose of the human's remains myself, I have a feeling that King Asgore is not just making coffins for fun." There were freezers in True Lab that he could use, if he could just drag one into this hidden part of it, that should slow the decomposition process human bodies went through. It was going to be an awful pain, but better to be safe than sorry.

"Their personal effects, however..."

With one hand he slid open the drawer of his desk, pulling out the small toy gun and hat that he had taken from the child several hours earlier. He opened the chamber and emptied the gun of its BB pellets.

"...May as well go to the dump. They are of no use to anyone now."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I've been mostly posting ASL Aftermath stuff, but I've had the urge occasionally to write stuff in the Handplates AU set before Gaster fell in the core. (If you don't know what the Handplates AU is, check it out at Zarla's deviantart 0o0) this one obviously is an interpretation of some things happening in an existing Handplates comic, specifically "Today's experiment was a…"

It's intentionally open to interpretation whether or not Papyrus went through with destroying the carrier, and I personally like to interpret him repeatedly saying "I never want to kill anyone" at the end as his way of trying to tell Sans that he wasn't refusing just because he didn't care about his brother.

I figure that the creature in the carrier had to have been one of the fallen humans since Gaster talks about storing its SOUL in a "prototype capsule" like how the human souls are stored in the game. I picked the Justice human just because I liked the idea. (I don't believe the order in which you find their belongings necessarily denotes the order in which they fell.)


	15. Rude (ASL Verse)

**Title:** ASL Aftermath: Rude

 **Rating:** K+

 **Feat:** Papyrus, Gaster, Frisk, Asgore

 **Word Count:** 2,420

* * *

For a while the only sound in that room was the whirring and clicking of machinery, Papyrus' whimpering, and occasional garbled beeping speech from Dr. Gaster. In between those moments there was an air of calm, quiet, and methodical.

It was a rainy day in New Home, which meant that the grey-bricked basement of King Asgore's castle was a mere reflection of how gloomy it looked outside. Well, to be fair to the basement, it wasn't all bad anymore- the king had finally worn down Gaster's protests against getting his "prison" furnished, insisting that his mental and emotional health couldn't be getting any better living in a big empty room with little to do. Out of the generousness of his own heart Asgore "lent" him some new furniture, a bed among them, and gradually the scientist decided to give in to having some of his old lab machinery brought in.

Even if he didn't really have a project to use it for anymore.

He was able to make some use of his tools, though, that afternoon. He had Papyrus' hand in his, keeping a firm grip to prevent him from pulling away, and with his power tools he worked on something that he might have done well to do a long time ago.

Of course, it irritated him that he had to keep stopping and starting, because Papyrus could barely handle the sound of the tools. Each time he flinched, whimpered, and tugged, Gaster stopped. He kept taking deep breaths and mentally counting to ten, forcing himself to remember the reason why the boy was like this. "Be still," he said to him, after he felt a tug for the twentieth time.

"I'M PRETTY SURE I FELT IT THAT TIME," Papyrus whined.

Gaster released his saw for a second to rub his temple. " _It does not matter_ if you can feel it. You are going to feel it no matter what. You only stop if it is _unbearable_." Flinching at his own words and bubbling memories that he didn't want, he added, "Okay?"

"R-R-RIGHT! I CAN DO THIS!" He tried to stand still again, but Gaster could feel the tremors in his bones.

"We are almost done." God, how long had they been doing this? Felt like hours. The child who had come to accompany Papyrus was already done sifting through their vocab sheets and were signing mindlessly to themselves, blowing on their bangs in utter boredom. This time, he considered holding Papyrus still through old and familiar magic methods, but he had enough to worry about with the saw. Surely, too, he was regretting trying to put on a brave act and telling the human he didn't need for them to hold his hand. They stuck close, but he hadn't recanted his declaration yet.

Finally, though, by some kind of miracle, he felt the saw nick through the last of the metal.

And the handplate popped off.

"AAH!" Papyrus screamed, and this time Gaster released his hand. "I FELT THAT!"

Gaster set both the saw and piece of metal down on the tray and removed his green safety goggles. "Papyrus, _we are_ _done_."

"WE-" Papyrus' jaw moved but his speech cracked, sputtering out for a minute, before it returned in an even louder volume than before. "WE'RE DONE?! WE'RE REALLY DONE?!" He lifted his own hand up to his face, seeing only two tiny holes where his "nametag" plate used to be attached, and his eyes got big and wide. "WOWIE! I-I-IT'S GONE!"

"Yes, it is. - _Ohgod-_ "

He couldn't help uttering as much when Papyrus threw himself over him in a giant bear hug, his eyes sparkling. He was babbling continuously, while Gaster struggled in his grip as if on impulse, "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

The human as well looked happy, jumping up and down with a big smile on their face. "Congratulations Paps!" As time passed they continued to grow a little bit taller, a little more mature, already an inch or so higher than they were on the day that they met- and yet sometimes they were just as loud as Papyrus.

Awkwardly trying to pry his arms off him, Gaster murmured, "The holes will likely not heal at this stage-"

"THAT'S OKAY!" He said immediately, beaming at him and at last letting him go; in the next moment, he was pulling his red gloves over his hands, his smile turning rather wistful. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE HOLES."

A bit of the tension eased out of Gaster's spine, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Then, if tw... if Sans desires the same, he can come in an-nytime that he wants."

"OH YES! I'LL TELL HIM! I CAN BRING HIM, I'M SURE HE'LL NEED ME THERE, I'M NOT SAYING IT WAS SCARY FOR _ME_ , BUT SANS-"

Gaster himself was on the verge of interrupting him, sensing that a little more babbling was about to happen, when the door to the basement opened and cut Papyrus off in a squeak. In came Asgore's smiling form, elbowing gently inside with a tray of hot chocolate in his arms. "I heard some celebratory yelling down here. I hope that I am not spoiling anything?"

"No, we're finished," Gaster said quickly, now signing in addition to his regular speech for the king's benefit. "And how long have you been listening at the door for?"

It was almost impossible to hear anything happening in the basement from up on the ground floor. An annoying habit that the king seemed to have developed was often listening in on his roommate's conversations, should he have any. He wished that this invasion of his privacy was not warranted, but even worse was that Asgore seemed to be doing it less because he didn't trust him and more because he was worried about him.

Even after this long, he hadn't given up trying to fix his mistakes.

This time, as always, Asgore didn't resent his assumption. He put on a rather sheepish look, "Oh, uh, not long. After all I didn't want the hot cocoa to cool down. Would any of you like some?"

"YES!" Papyrus eagerly took a mug, taking big childish gulps, and Asgore laughed before patting him on the head. When he brought the tray over to him, however, Gaster shook his head. He had no appetite for anything right now.

The human was the last to be offered, and they accepted with a little less gusto. "Chocolate always gives me a headache if I have too much," they mused, staring into the hot drink. "But I can never seem to stop having it." Smiling, they took a big sip for themselves.

"As I recall, Alice used to love this brand of hot chocolate," Asgore mused as he set down the tray.

Frisk spat out their drink.

In the process, they sprayed Papyrus.

Immediately, and obviously, he was the first one to react. "AAAAH! HUMAN! THAT WAS EXTREMELY RUDE!" He flecked the hot chocolate from his gloves, and Frisk began to wipe their mouth with effusive and repetitive apologies. "MY BATTLE BODY! IT'S GOING TO GET STAINED!"

"Sorry sorry sorry-"

"Now, now, it's alright, I can fix this-" Asgore said, rushing to the both of them. "Everyone calm down, it's just a little chocolate. Goodness knows I've developed a way with the laundry after being a bachelor for so long..."

"AHHH I HOPE SO! I MEAN NO OFFENSE FRISK, BUT IF IT'S TOO HOT YOU SHOULD SPIT IT SOMEWHERE ELSE INSTEAD OF ON ME, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!"

"I'm so _so_ sorry," Frisk whined, covering their face. As Asgore began to herd Papyrus out of the basement, insisting that he could prevent the already forming stains, the child stood and started to scurry after him, wringing their hands.

Before they could make it out the door, Gaster had stood and stopped them by their sleeve. "Actually, I would like to speak to you alone, human," he said, and signed the words before their face. If they were carrying out their lessons as they should, then they would understand everything he signed to them within reason.

Sure enough, they stopped and allowed Asgore and Papyrus to go on ahead without him, turning back with an uneasy expression. "Uh... okay."

He released them and they walked up to the vocab sheets again, saying nothing. Gaster looked to the door, waiting until Asgore and Papyrus were probably back upstairs, before speaking and signing again. "I was curious about something."

The uneasy look grew; he learned over time that they didn't like being asked questions, at least not serious ones or any that were hard to answer. Apparently that was an issue with Sans, as well. "Yes?"

Gaster folded his arms, trying to think of a delicate way to word it. This was not the first time that he had wanted to ask, every other time barred by how culpable he was in their suffering over a year ago, but seeing their reaction to the chocolate just now had finally given him enough of an excuse to bring it back up. "It is about when you were... where you were, after I threw you into the Core. You never quite explained the situation with Alice." He inclined his head, eye narrowing inconspicuously. "I also learned that you did not inform Sans of Alice's presence at all during our trip through the void."

The child tensed. "You and Sans shared notes?"

"Only incidentally."

"I don't know that word," Frisk began, and he sighed. "But did you _tell_ him about Alice?"

Gaster shook his head, and they breathed out. He frowned at that. "Is keeping secrets really the basis of your relationship with Sans?"

"Of course not!" Frisk sputtered, rubbing their arm and speaking a little too fast. "I just... don't want him to worry more than he already is when I don't think she's going to be a problem anymore. Now what's your question?"

Gaster would roll his eye if it was visible to them. "Alright, I will let that slide. But if I may ask, why not tell him? Or to be more precise, what would Sans have to be worried about?"

The human looked away, and more quietly said, "When Alice was still alive, did you... like them?"

The question gave him room for pause. His feelings towards the fallen child of so many years ago were mired in unpleasantness and painful memories, not to mention everything that ensued after their death. But how he felt about them at the time, with all the trouble that they caused, with how dear the Dreemurrs held them...? He smirked at Frisk, then. "Is my response going to affect your testimony?"

"Yes," Frisk said, with no hesitation.

"Just tell me the truth."

At last the child glared at him, turning back to the cup of hot chocolate that they had set down on a countertop that they probably should not have set it down on. "I actually really hate chocolate... Since gives me headaches."

"I can wait."

Frisk shook their head. "Alice was... was... _mean_. And she was scary." They picked the cup up and took a sip, before spitting it back out and grimacing. "Even scarier than _you_ were. And I don't know why, or how, or if it was maybe just all in my head, or if she's even really the real Alice... so I don't want to talk about it." They glared, then. "I'm not talking about it."

"Is that your final answer?"

Closing their mouth into a thin line, Frisk signed "yes" to him.

At that, Gaster only shrugged. While he would never characterize Alice as 'scary' when that child was alive, not to him anyway, they didn't have an amazing track record. Poisoning the king, however "accidentally," was not even the first clue when he thought back. "And you don't think this will cause issues?"

"No," Frisk signed again. They seemed to consider something, absently rubbing their throat. They never did buy a replacement for that locket that they always wore.

Finally, no doubt because they didn't have a great grasp on their vocabulary, they eventually added in plain speech, "Besides, if I was going to tell anyone it wouldn't be you. No offense," at that he didn't respond. He understood well enough why they might not be their first choice, even though he probably was _the only person who would be equipped to deal with this_ _phenomenon_ \- but it wasn't his business. Probably. "I mean, you only know about Asriel being Flowey because you figured it out yourself."

"Yes,yes. I get it." Gaster sat back down at his workbench, no longer interested in maintaining a semblance of eye contact. "I suppose that's all I wanted to know, Frisk."

"Sorry," they said hesitantly, and he would have again rolled his eye if possible. "Um... gonna go check on Papyrus now." They waved goodbye, which he in good manners reciprocated. Opening the door back up to the top, they let out a semi-cheery, "Hey Asgore, 'scuse me."

Gaster stiffened.

Asgore walked into the room, his face inscrutable, and allowed Frisk to go on past. He was looking at Gaster in particular, clasping his hands together. When the human had gone upstairs and out of hearing range, he said quietly, "What was that about Asriel?"

* * *

 **Author's Note** : I don't mean for this little doodle to be a cliffhanger, more of an OOPS THIS HAPPENED kind of thing. But I might do more with it later. I'm on a bit of an Asgore kick so I wanted to put him in more stuff, and I had this kind of idea in mind for a while. :P

First half of this came into my head with the latest Handplates comic and I felt it was a good way to set things up? I honestly don't know how feasible it is that he remove the plates after years and years of the bros having them on, but maybe it's as simple as cutting them up.


End file.
